﻿Five-leaved 
  Clover 
  

  

  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. 
  Many 
  trials 
  may 
  be 
  neces- 
  

   sary 
  to 
  secure 
  the 
  special 
  race. 
  I 
  had 
  the 
  good 
  

   fortune 
  to 
  find 
  two 
  plants 
  of 
  clover, 
  bearing 
  one 
  

   quinate 
  and 
  several 
  quaternate 
  leaves, 
  on 
  an 
  

   excursion 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Loosdrecht 
  in 
  

   Holland. 
  After 
  transplanting 
  them 
  into 
  my 
  

   garden, 
  I 
  cultivated 
  them 
  during 
  three 
  years 
  

   and 
  observed 
  a 
  slowly 
  increasing 
  number 
  of 
  

   anomalous 
  leaves. 
  This 
  number 
  in 
  one 
  summer 
  

   amounted 
  to 
  46 
  quaternate 
  and 
  16 
  quinate 
  

   leaves, 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  evident 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  secured 
  an 
  

   instance 
  of 
  the 
  rare 
  " 
  five-leaved 
  : 
  race 
  which 
  

   I 
  am 
  about 
  to 
  describe. 
  

  

  Before 
  doing 
  so 
  it 
  seems 
  desirable 
  to 
  look 
  

   somewhat 
  closer 
  into 
  the 
  morphological 
  fea- 
  

   tures 
  of 
  the 
  problem. 
  Pinnate 
  and 
  palmate 
  

   leaves 
  often 
  vary 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  their 
  parts. 
  

   This 
  variability 
  is 
  generally 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  a 
  

   common 
  fluctuation, 
  the 
  deviations 
  grouping 
  

   themselves 
  around 
  an 
  average 
  type 
  in 
  the 
  ordi- 
  

   nary 
  way. 
  Ash 
  leaves 
  bear 
  five 
  pairs, 
  and 
  

  

  