[340]
LECTURE XII
FIVE-LEAVED CLOVER
Every one knows the "four-leaved" clover. It is occasionally found on
lawns, in pastures and by the roadsides. Specimens with five leaflets
may be found now and then in the same place, or on the same plant, but
these are rarer. I have often seen isolated plants with quaternate
leaves, but only rarely have I observed individuals with more than one
such leaf.
The two cases are essentially dissimilar. They may appear to differ but
little morphologically, but from the point of view of heredity they are
quite different. Isolated quaternate leaves are of but little interest,
while the occurrence of many on the same individual indicates a distinct
variety. In making experiments upon this point it is necessary to
transplant the divergent individuals to a garden in order to furnish
them proper cultural conditions and to keep them under constant
observation. When a plant bearing a quaternate leaf is thus transplanted
however, it rarely repeats the [341] anomaly. But when plants with two
or more quaternate leaves on the same individual are chosen it indicates
that it belongs to a definite race, which under suitable conditions may
prove to become very rich in the anomalies in question.
Obviously it is not always easy to decide definitely whether a given
individual belongs to such a race or not.
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