Bodily Oddities

Cloverleaf tongue

Also called: Trefoil tongue · Three-leaf tongue

Folding the tongue into three lobes, like a clover leaf. In one Dutch study, about 15% of adults could do it. It is usually called the hardest tongue shape.

Mouth and throat Muscle Trick Voluntary Try it Learnable Party trick Genetic

How common

About 15% (one Dutch sample) A Chinese sample found 0%. The difference between populations appears large.

Can you do this?

How it works

A cloverleaf tongue has three bumps. The two side edges curl up, as in tongue rolling, and the tip also folds up in the middle. Seen from the front, the tongue looks like a clover leaf with three lobes.

The shape needs two movements at the same time. The muscles inside the tongue work together to curl its edges up, as in tongue rolling2. The lengthwise muscles on top pull the tip up and back2. Most people who can roll their tongue cannot add the second fold.

In one study of healthy Dutch adults, 14.7% could make the shape3. One study of 429 Han Chinese people in Shaanxi found nobody who could4. This suggests the ability varies a lot between populations4. In 1950, David Whitney suggested that it is a dominant inherited trait1. Little has been published since, so the genetic evidence is doubtful3. Genes are not the whole story. Some people learn the shape by watching others and copying the movement.

No formal studies exist on how many people can learn it with practice.

Try it

  1. Roll your tongue into a tube first. If you cannot roll it, the cloverleaf is very unlikely.
  2. Keep the sides curled up. Now try to lift the tip of the tongue up in the middle, so that a third bump forms.
  3. Look in a mirror. Three lobes in a row is the target.
  4. If you get two lobes and a flat middle, keep practising. Small daily attempts work better than long sessions.

Is it a problem?

No. Being able, or unable, to fold your tongue into a cloverleaf has no effect on speech, eating, or health. It is a party trick tied to muscle control and possibly genetics1, not a medical trait. There is no downside to lacking the ability and no health benefit to having it. There is nothing here worth mentioning to a doctor. A tongue that is painful, swollen, or has trouble moving normally is a separate and unrelated issue worth checking.

Sources and further material

  1. Wikipedia Tongue rolling Covers the cloverleaf fold alongside other tongue shapes.
  2. Wikipedia Tongue Anatomy of the tongue muscles.
  3. NCBI Five Specific Tongue Movements in a Healthy Population Kappert KDR et al., 2020 Dysphagia. Dutch sample of healthy adults; 14.7% could make the cloverleaf. Says the genetic evidence for the cloverleaf is doubtful.
  4. PubMed The traits of five types of tongue movement in Han of Shaanxi, China He X et al., 2012 Anatomical Science International. 429 Han people in Shaanxi; 0% could make the cloverleaf. Frequencies differed significantly from seven other ethnic groups in China.

Updated , first published .

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Mouth Trick

Tongue rolling

Between 65% and 84% of people can curl the sides of the tongue up into a tube. For decades it was taught as a simple one-gene trait. It is not.

65–84% of people
Mouth Trick

Tongue folding

Folding the tip of the tongue backward over itself inside the mouth. Studies find that between 1.5% and 27.5% of people can do it.

1.5–27.5%
Mouth Trick

Tongue twisting

Turning the tongue on its side so the edges face up and down, or all the way over. Between 12% and 36% of people can twist it at least halfway.

12–36%