Posted on 06/20/2024 12:49:59 PM PDT by Red Badger
Yoshiharu Watanabe earned a Guinness World Record by growing a 63-leaf clover. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records
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June 20 (UPI) -- A Japanese man borrowed some of the luck of the Irish and broke a Guinness World Record by growing a 63-leaf clover.
Yoshiharu Watanabe, 45, started cross-pollinating clovers at his Nasushiobara home in 2012 with an aim toward breaking the world record.
"Since the number of leaves has increased year by year, I have been aiming for the Guinness World Records title ever since," he told Guinness World Records.
Watanabe said he used a combination of letting his clover patches pollinate naturally and hand-pollinating those with the most leaves. He said his methods weren't always successful.
"Sometimes the number of leaves can go down, or sometimes you end up with the normal three-leaf clover," he said. "We know that genetics are involved in a higher number of leaves, yet we don't exactly know how it works."
Watanabe's prize clover has 63 leaves, beating the previous record of 56 leaves, set by fellow Japan resident Shigeo Obara in 2009.
He said he was overjoyed to discover his clover had taken the record.
"People say that a four-leaved clover brings you happiness, so it would be great if this 63-leaved clover would bring surprise and pleasure to people," he said.
He created a mutant
Was it grown close to the Fukushima Nuke Plant?
Good question................
Krazy Glue.
I think I found a 7 leafer once.
I probably selected against the 4+ clovers picking them all summer.
Back when children were expected to cope with boredom.
Yes, little ones, that’s how your grandma got thru the summer.
John Madden would love that.
GMO clover.
I had a boss once who could go outside and almost immediately find a 4-leaf clover just about every time.
He was color blind, and I always wondered if that was part of why he could always find them...
One hour north of Tokyo in Tochigi Prefecture which is right next to Fukushima Prefecture !
The house I grew up in had a side yard where four though seven leaf clovers grew routinely. I thought they were totally normal. Now I think the developer must have built over a toxic waste site. :)
My Dad told of a high-school acquaintance who was like that. Said that he got recruited to the military to analyze aerial photos.
It may cut out a lot of ‘color interference’ - a ‘signal-to-noise’ thing.
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