We've all gone on searches for the fabled four-leafed clover, but for one lucky individual, that search ended with far more luck than they could have expected.
By Evan Williams
Nasushiobara, Japan - Is there anything more lucky than a four or five-leafed clover? Well, probably a 63-leaf clover, especially seeing as it was large enough to win a world record.
Contents
- This is the most insane clover to ever exist!
- How did it get the most leaves on a clover?
Considering that four-leafed clover is considered extraordinarily lucky, as the number of leaves increases, surely so does the luck.
If this is true, then Yoshiharu Watanabe is one insanely lucky man, having found the biggest clover in the world. It has the most leaves on any clover ever found, and it's a crazy discovery.
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This is the most insane clover to ever exist!
In a new world record set to be one of the most impressive yet, a 63-leaf clover was grown by Yoshiharu Watanabe in Nasushiobara, Japan. The clover, green and covered in petals, is an absolutely extraordinary bundle of joy and something that'll truly bring a lot of luck to its grower.
With 63 leaves in total, this incredible clover has seven more than the previous record holder, another Japanese clover, which grew 56 leaves in total. It was discovered by one Shigeo Obara in Hanamaki City and sat as a world record holder for well over a decade.
Watanabe had been working on trying to achieve the record of most leaves on a clover for years before he eventually picked it up when Guinness World Records (GWR) awarded him on June 20, 2024. Over this period, he has been slowly cultivating clovers to grow more and more leaves each and every year.
"Since the number of leaves has increased year by year, I have been aiming for the Guinness World Records title," Watanabe explained to GWR. At first, in 2020, he managed a 59-leaf clover before almost beating the record in 2021 with a 55-leaf clover. It was possibly one of the most unique pandemic-era projects ever!
"Sometimes the number of leaves can go down, or sometimes you end up with the normal three-leaf clover," said Watanabe. "We know that genetics are involved in a higher number of leaves, yet we don't exactly know how it works."
How did it get the most leaves on a clover?
Watanabe's journey to creating the biggest clover in history began a few years ago when he found a 20-leaf clover in his garden and decided to go for the record. To do so, he has been cross-pollinating clovers in his garden since 2012, primarily using four, five, six, or seven-leaved clovers that he found in nearby fields and parks.
The clover is quite a strong plant, according to Watanabe, and one that didn't need much looking after to survive, so he didn't really have to do much after cross-pollinating and nurturing it into growth. When he found the 20-leafed clover, he knew he needed to try and triple the number of petals, and he has now achieved that goal.
"I had to triple the number of leaves in order to try and beat it," he said. "It didn't seem that easy, yet the leaves were growing in numbers; I thought I might eventually be able to break it."
It took a long time, more than a decade of careful cultivation and pollination, and at times, things were tough and uncertain. The reality is that the number of leaves varies from plant to plant. As a result, sometimes he would look close to his goal, and on other occasions, he would end up with a simple three or four-leafed clover.
When he did eventually grow the world record-holder to-be, he guessed that the clover would probably beat the previous record holder. He didn't, however, expect it to be such a home run. The result, of course, has made him exceedingly happy!
"Because the leaves are smaller than the standard clover that you know and love, it's hard to count the number of leaves. When I counted this record-breaking clover, it took me over an hour," he said.
There's something extraordinary about a clover so big that it's hard to handle. What Yoshiharu Watanabe grew was exactly that, and it more than certainly deserves a world record.
Cover photo: Unsplash/Kiki Wang
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