3 Ways to Find a Four Leaf Clover - wikiHow (2025)

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Is there a trick to finding 4-leaf clovers? ›

Find a thick patch and slowly brush your hand over the surface. The center of a four-leaf clover has a different shape and the fourth leaf is often smaller than the others. These anomalies will naturally register the eye's attention. Gradually widen your search until you get “lucky.”

Let us help you find your “lucky” four-leafed clover … with science! First, you need to find the perfect place. You can find around 200 clovers in a plot of clover-growing grass or field that spreads about one-square foot, which means that a space of about 12-square feet should contain a four-leaf clover.

According to The Weather Network, a four-leaf clover is rare, and difficult to find. A quick Google search said the odds are 1 in 10,000, but a 2017 study says chances are much better, with a 1 in 5,000 chance. Inside Science also reported 1 in 10,000 odds.

Other plants may be mistaken for, or misleadingly sold as, "4-leaf clovers"; for example, Oxalis tetraphylla is a species of wood sorrel with leaves resembling a 4-leaf clover.

While trying to convert the Irish into Christians, St. Patrick used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity with each leaf representing the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three leaves of a shamrock are also said to stand for faith, hope and love. A fourth leaf is where we get the luck from.

Another reason for clovers with four leaves instead of three is due to plant breeding. New strains of the plant are biologically bred to produce more four leaf clovers. I guess that could explain why there seem to be lots more, or at least a lot easier to find.

Walk around areas with a lot of leaves and trees, like parks and trials, to seek out clover patches. If you have a backyard, look there as well. Clovers often grow in lawns.

Finding a four-leaf clover is considered good luck because they are so rare. Only one in 10,000 clovers have four leaves, rather than three.

Real four-leaf clover finder app with cutting edge AI. 4K shot mode can find 4-leaf clovers across wide area (~1500 clovers!) in one shot. The real-time mode can detect more reliably with a closer view, it is ideal for small clover patches.

It's estimated that you have a 1 in 100,000 chance of finding a five-leaf clover, compared to a 1 in 10,000 chance of finding a four-leaf clover.

Is finding a four-leaf clover hard? ›

Experts would tell you that the odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000. Yikes! Those aren't very good odds. Given the rarity of four-leaf clovers, it's no WONDER they're a symbol of good luck.

The odds of finding a 4-leaf clover are 1 in 10,000. I have now found 6 total this week.

The False Shamrock: Oxalis. The last piece of the shamrock puzzle is a houseplant that also goes by the name “shamrock.” It usually crops up in grocery stores and nurseries around St. Patrick's Day. This plant is not related to clover (the “true” shamrock) but is in the same genus as wood sorrel (Oxalis).

Experts would tell you that the odds of finding a four-leaf clover are about 1 in 10,000. Yikes! Those aren't very good odds. Given the rarity of four-leaf clovers, it's no WONDER they're a symbol of good luck.

Some companies sell clover seeds that will grow into plants that are more likely to produce four leaves. But even in plants grown from these seeds, four-leafed ones remain rare.

The four-leaf clover (officially known as Oxalis deppei) is a small plant with four distinct leaves. It's a rare variation of the common three-leaf clover, and because your chances of finding one with four leaves is about 1 in 10,000, they're considered lucky.