What causes those lucky clover? Are they actually pretty lucky? (In a science sort of way)
In: Biology
If anything, for the plant, it’s probably unlucky.
The 4th clover is a random mutation. We all generally have small mutations due to irregularities in the code that makes us grow, but those “mutations” can become permanent if they are consistent enough in offspring. If I have brown hair, and you have brown hair, our kids will probably have brown hair.
Well, since a 4-leaf clover is more likely to get plucked, the plant is less likely to survive vs. other plants that were ignored, and so the mutation is increasingly less likely to be found in the following generation.
It’s not much different than if a human had a “lucky” mutation that made them more easily killed by a parasite.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, because of this, 4-leaved clovers have become rarer over time (unless someone managed to crossbreed a plant that was capable of producing them more consistently).
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