6 leaf clover - Ask Extension
Hello,
My son found a 6-leaf clover today. We regularly find 4-leaf and occasionally 5-leaf clovers, but this was very exciting. What is the likeli...
Knowledgebase
6 leaf clover #904906
Asked June 08, 2025, 5:44 PM EDT
Hello,
My son found a 6-leaf clover today. We regularly find 4-leaf and occasionally 5-leaf clovers, but this was very exciting. What is the likelihood of finding a 6-leaf clover and are there any other interesting facts about them?
Thanks!
Iowa County Iowa
Expert Response
What a fun find!
Four-leaf clovers are not extensively studied, but they have been researched. I've seen estimates of finding a four-leaf clover range from 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000. So finding an even more rare six-leaf clover would have much higher odds, but I cannot say very precisely what those odds might be. Clovers with as many as eight leaflets have been found, but as you might imagine, that is a rare occurrence!
What causes more than three leaflets to form is a combination of environmental conditions and genetics. They have identified the genes that cause four-leaf clovers to form in white clover (Trifolium repens). This is the species most common in lawns. However, even when the genes are present, it does not guarantee the formation of more than three leaflets. So we know the environment plays a role along with genes, but the precise environmental conditions needed to trigger this mutation are not well known.
This article from the University of Georgia is a nice one related to your findings and would be an interesting read for you. https://news.uga.edu/four-leaf-clover-spotting/
--Aaron
Four-leaf clovers are not extensively studied, but they have been researched. I've seen estimates of finding a four-leaf clover range from 1 in 5,000 to 1 in 10,000. So finding an even more rare six-leaf clover would have much higher odds, but I cannot say very precisely what those odds might be. Clovers with as many as eight leaflets have been found, but as you might imagine, that is a rare occurrence!
What causes more than three leaflets to form is a combination of environmental conditions and genetics. They have identified the genes that cause four-leaf clovers to form in white clover (Trifolium repens). This is the species most common in lawns. However, even when the genes are present, it does not guarantee the formation of more than three leaflets. So we know the environment plays a role along with genes, but the precise environmental conditions needed to trigger this mutation are not well known.
This article from the University of Georgia is a nice one related to your findings and would be an interesting read for you. https://news.uga.edu/four-leaf-clover-spotting/
--Aaron
