Tom Elmer's Homepage: Teenage Mutant Karate Clover

I see dead people. Er, I mean, I find mutant clovers. (Sometimes called "Four-Leafed Clovers", but I'll include more :D )

I started finding them when I was a kid on lazy summer days on the family farm. I guess it laid the pathways for good clover spotting algorithms in my brain, because I keep finding them. Before starting this page, I'd found several with 5 leaves, one with 6, a few with unseparated leaves, etc. Interestingly enough I've found more around roadsides than on Argonne National Laboratory itself, even though I expected the mutation rate to be higher there. But those car exhausts really cause havoc on clover I guess :(

So, a couple of years ago, I decided to let the mutants take over and stop picking them and start taking pictures. (OK, really I was tired of trying to preserve them after I picked them.) So.. here are some pictures. (Be sure to click on the thumbnails - they're cropped out from the larger composition.)

Here is an interesting article on Why Are Four Leaf Clovers So Rare. It also explains why the 4-leaves are so often found in the 3-leaf + 1 formation that I've noticed since I started taking pictures. (i.e. it looks like one leaf has been tacked into a regular 3-leaf cluster.)

Pictures
2003-06-26 2003-07-02 4 Leaves	Simple... Four leaves.. to the point (I'm pretty sure these are both the same clover, just twisted around 180 degrees, and photographed at different times of the day. I just found the earlier image and don't remember exactly where it was taken, although I know the date. These two look very similar though and the dates are close enough for it to be the same one.)
2003-07-03 4 Leaves	A little bit cramped for space there on the old clover stem... I was on a roll this week.
2003-07-03 3.5 Leaves	This one was about 10 cm away from the one above. You can see it has 4 main veins, but one of the leaves didn't separate fully.
2003-07-31 4 Leaves	I found 3 of them this morning... After going a few weeks without finding any.
2003-07-31 4 Leaves	Spotted this one first....
2003-07-31 3+1 Leaves	...Then I found this one while taking pictures. Unfortunately, I was getting late for work by then, so I didn't check to make sure it was in focus. Notice it has 3 main leaves and a fourth one just developing.
2003-09-24 4 Leaves	I do not know what all the white stuff is. It's on everything around there now.
2003-10-03 4 Leaves	Just don't look at the timestamp too closely... was running a half-hour late for work :D Be sure to click on the thumbnail - you can tell we're getting the first signs of fall.
2004
2004-05-16 4 leaves minus some bug's dinner	First one of the season! (While hiking with James.) This one's a little buggy... I think it should be uninstalled.
3D: 2004-05-21 4 leaves minus some bug's dinner	Very productive morning! Found 5 mutants today. (check out the cross-eyed stereo image too. Sorry, no wall-eyed.. it just didn't work on this one. This one wasn't intentionally a stereo image, I just had two camera angles and they work OK.. the angle's slightly off. The ones below were intentional, however.) trailside on the way to work
2004-05-21 4 leaves	Always, always, always look around when you find one mutant, you'll often find another. In this case, as I was walking on the trail between building 212 and my office onsite at Argonne, I spotted this one. If I hadn't looked around I wouldn't be able to show you...
3D: 2004-05-21 5 leaves!	A fiver! When you find one mutant, always, always, always look around. I then spotted...
3D: 2004-05-21 5 leaves!	Another fiver! When you find one mutant, always, always, always look around. I then spotted...
2004-05-21 Young 4 leaves	Another four. OK, so this one is anticlimactic, but I think it was good enough today :D.
2004-06-03 4 leaves minus Lawnmower Man's revenge	Another big day...
2004-06-03 5 leaves	This may be a different strain of clover from the normal white / red clovers. The flowers on this plant seems to be slightly pink instead of white or red. It seems more susceptible to mutation. All of these today were in a small area at Argonne.
2004-06-03 5 leaves 3D:	Nice little dew drop in the 3D image.. It was windy so it was hard to get an exact 3D image. (some things moved, shadows moved, etc.)
2004-06-03 5 deformed leaves	A leaf only a mother could love...
2004-06-03 2 X 4 leaves	Two fours next to each other... again, wind conditions made taking pictures hard today. Not sure if the leaf damage here is due to bugs or the lawnmower kicking up dirt/rocks from the trail.
2004-07-21 3D: 4 leaves about to be a bug's dinner	I was just on my lunch break and decided to look in the clover patch next to my office. I found this one. As I always say though, whenever you find one, be sure to look around in the immediate area for another. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have found....
2004-07-21 4 leaves of perfection 3D:	This is probably the most perfect specimen of 4-leaf I have ever found. The leaf shape is pure, the clover markings are crisp, there is no weathering or bug marks. It's perfection.
2004-08-29 6.5 leaves, RED! (Color coded)	This is my first ever red clover mutant and boy is it a doozy! ('Red' clovers are named after the color of their flowers.) You can see how large it is in comparison to my hand. It's 7 leaves with two of the leaves conjoined along the central vein. Unfortunately, I was using James's camera at the time, which I wasn't used to, so the image isn't as good as I'd like. Here is a color coded version to show where all of the leaves are. Ten minutes later, James found a 4-leaf red clover, his first mutant clover ever.
2004-09-21 4 leaves	Found on my way to work... a couple of inches from the next picture, as seen in the large image. Also, the next two were also found within a few feet. (Alas trying to get both in the frame meant neither ended up being in focus when I looked at it later.)
2004-09-21 4 leaves	Same image, different clover
2004-09-21 4 leaves	Same day, a little further away
2004-09-21 4 leaves	And yet another...
2005
2005-05-17 3.75 leaves 3D:	First mutants of the season and are they starting with a bang this year. (First clover bed sighting was the first week of April.) This one has a leaf that has clearly split into two, but is joined at the base. You can see the central vein split into two where they join in the non-stereo image. trailside between Cass and Northgate road
2005-05-17 4 leaves	Class, repeat after me. "When you find a mutant, always look carefully in the same area for another." After finding the above mutant, I did just that. All of the pictures today were taken in a 1 m² area. gets out the calculator That's a mutant density of 11 mutants per meter squared!
2005-05-17 5 leaves trying to pass itself off as 3 3D:	At first glance, this one looks like a normal 3-leaf variety, but on closer inspection you can see two extra leaves dropping down below the normal leaf plane. I had to look at this one closely to make sure it was a mutant and not just two separate 'mundanes' snuggled up together. The 3D images might help, but not a lot... I just couldn't find a good camera angle on this one.
2005-05-17 4.75 leaves	The furthest leaf is split like the first clover in this series. Bad picture, I was rushed :) Too many pictures to take when I was already late for work. It's a good thing I took these pictures when I did because that afternoon they mowed the area and so they were all destroyed :(
2005-05-17 Simply 4	This is a nice specimen. But this is not the picture you are waiting for... (Ahh, the days when a nice 4-leaf specimen is boring news :D)
2005-05-17 Another 3.75	This is indeed the day for the odd mutants, but you're really waiting for the next picture. (Although technically, I took it before this one, I'm just saving the best for last.)
2005-05-17 (Color Coded) 4 Leaves 5 Leaves 4 Leaves 3.5 Leaves 2 Leaves	This image has five mutants in it. If you're having trouble spotting them, refer to the color coded version 4 Leaves: This is the first one I spotted and the reason I took the picture in the first place. 5 Leaves: Always fun to find one of these. 4 Leaves: This guy's bashful... he's hiding behind the 5-leaf. 3.5 Leaves: I didn't even see this one until I looked at the pictures. Yet another reason to take pictures instead of picking them :D 2 Leaves: It's next to impossible to prove a 2-leaf clover, since it could always be a mutilation instead of a mutation. However, I'm going to try with this one. This one has a feature that I think sets it apart from your normal mutilated clover and gives me confidence that it's indeed a 2-leaf mutant. First of all, whether it is indeed a 2-leaf or not, it should be fairly clear from its anatomy that this is indeed a mutant, even if it is a mutilated one, therefore it deserves a place on this page. Secondly note that the symmetry seems to indicate an even symmetry (two or 4 leaves before mutilation.) So, starting with the normal 3-leaf clover, what are the options for this clover? mutation 2nd and 3rd leaves failing to split, leaving a 2-leaf mutation + mutilation a 3-leaf with a 4th leaf failing to develop fully and one leaf being cut. Note the probability of the mutated leaf being left after mutilation is 67% double mutation + double mutilation a 4-leaf with a 5th leaf failing to develop fully and two leaves being cut. The probability of 2 leaves being cut and leaving the mutated leaf is 50% etc. to higher orders of mutilation So, applying Occam's Razor, the most likely is the single mutation of being a failed third leaf. If this mutation didn't exist, then the most likely explanation for seeing a 2-leaf would be a mutilation of a normal 3-leaf, but this mutation makes me fairly confident it's actually a 2-leaf clover. Of course, if you don't know me you have to factor in a trust level, which would give 100% probability to the mutilation if you distrust me. If you trust the symmetry, this would make the most likely to be the double mutation plus double mutilation. (One of the previous pictures had exactly this double mutation, so a Bayesian analysis including the trust factor would make this a very probable situation.) I can only say "I didn't do it"! :) So, it is my 'expert' opinion that this is indeed a 2-leaf clover. (OK, OK, so by my normal numbering system it would be a 2.5 leaf, but give me this one ;) ) This is a first for me! I'd estimate a confidence level of about 80%. So, for anyone that's keeping track, this one single image shows examples of 2, 3, 3.5, 4, AND 5 leaf clovers all in the same area!
2005-05-19 4 leaves	And two days later I found this one.
2005-05-26 food 4 thought 3D:	Treebeard comes bearing a gift. Found this on my way back from lunch and I didn't have my camera at the time, so I picked it.
2005-06-03 Shy 4	Found on the way back to my office from the lab. (Hey, my office has been freezing all week... so what if I took a couple of extra minutes outside to thaw.) (Oh yeah.. figured out why my macro wasn't working on recent pictures. Somehow, my camera's memory got wiped recently, and I forgot to reset my super macro settings so it was using the 'normal' macro mode.)
2005-06-03 Simply 4	Went back to the same spot a couple of hours later while I was trying to warm my fingers and found this one.
2005-06-06 Abused, tortured and smashed 4	Found this one on my way to my Monday meeting... put it in my wallet for later documentation.... poor thing.
2006
2006-05-18 Let the hunting 4 mutants begin! 3D:	First mutant of the season. Due to the shape of the mutation, it was pretty hard to spot. It took me a while to re-find it after digging out my camera. (Found on path between Cass and Northgate road.)
2006-06-01 The unFOURtunate one 3D:	Sometimes you just can't get a break. Between the lawnmowers and the bugs, it's just next to impossible to keep that classic double-hourglass figure that's the envy of your lesser 3-leaved neighbors. (Found on Argonne between 212 and 308.)
2006-07-07 Red 4, this is Red Leader, come in Red 4 3D:	A (small) red clover mutant. (Found on the path by 91st St on the way to work)
2007
2007-05-02 Irish FOURtune 3D:	Mutant hunting season 2007 has begun! Classic 4-leaf with heart-shaped leaves.
2007-05-02 FOURtune keeps smiling 3D:	Another one I found outside of my office.
2007-05-16 Showing great FOURtitude	Found at Argonne on the trail near building 212

Contributed Pictures
James McNeill 2004-08-29 4 Leaves, RED	James's first mutant ever. He found it right after I found my first red mutant (see above)
Xavi Garcia 2004-09-12 4 Leaves	My name is Xavi, I'm from Castellar del Vall? Barcelona (Spain) The last sunday we was walking around Manresa and we found a 4 leaves clover and a 5 leaves clover around the gardens of the "La Seu de Manresa" (Manresa's Cathedral). We know that 4 leaves clover means good luck, but we don't know the meaning of a 5 leaves clover. I see your web site and I thought that you may be can help us to answer our doubt.
Xavi Garcia 2004-09-12 5 Leaves	I attach a compressed file with 2 photos, one with a 4 leaves clover and the other one with 5 leaves clover (this is a little difficult to see). (I think I might see another mutant in the background of this image -Tom)

Tom Elmer's Teenage Mutant Karate Clover

Pictures

2004

2005

2006

2007

Contributed Pictures