PBS Forum

We've all seen them: Flowers where something went wrong - an extra petal here, a strange twist there. Let's share our most interesting flower mutants!

Starting with the easy common thing: Tigridia pavonia

Height:	45-80 cm (1.5-2.6 ft)
Flower Colors:	white, red, yellow, pink, orange, patterned
Special:	edible storage organ
Life form:	deciduous bulb
Climate:	USDA Zone 8-9

is notoriously bad at counting - in both directions, so three isn't always a charm.

More of a special look is Gladiolus splendens

Flower Colors:	red
Climate:	winter rain climate

- with petals transformed to styles as it seems. usually we see that the other way round with double flowers.

My true reason for starting this topic is the last, current picture: Tropaeolum pentaphyllum

- with some extra anthers, so I guess that's several flowers combined. the true absurdity comes from growing the spur inside out - and still keeping its capability of producing clear, sticky nectar.

Those are some impressive examples - I've not got much further than six petalled primroses. Is there a difference between genetic variation and physical conditions. I can imagine six petals happen to fit the size of things better some days than five, and fasciation appears to be when two flowers collide whilst growing. In other words some features are determined by the structure of reality (three dimensions etc) and not genetics.

Have you checked the soil for radioactivity...

Some gardeners seem to produce lots of variations, perhaps it is the plant material they set off with.

As the forum is now used much more then when the first posts were active, I'll use a non geophyte for digging it up - imagine my surprise about this Linaria dalmatica flower - they should simply look like small snapdragons....

Numerous triggers have been suggested over the years - sudden temperature change (up or down), virus, insect or bacterial damage. Spontaneous changes within the plant with no actual trigger are possible - similar to an embryo splitting to produce identical twins.

A lot of stable mutations involve the reproductive parts of flowers - extra petals to make double flowers often means sterile flowers.

Mine has to be a 2 petal/2 sepal daylily. There are lots of 4 and 5 polymerous types, but the 2 petaled one is very rare.
BL-U#114 6T-103 (Better Lucky than Good x Hippie Crash Pad) x Michigan Nikki (8).jpg

Should I even mention snowdrops?  If they're stable, they're expensive.  The newer 'Quasimodo' and 'Were-rabbit' have tepaloid valve bracts giving them an extra zing.  I have a 'Wasp' that, one or two blossoms a season, reverses inner tepals and outer tepals.  I'll see if I can get a picture during the season.  Oh, those Galanthus...

Michael
Interlaken, NY Zone 6  First snow of the season!  Suddenly, it's cold.

Michael:

I'm sure there's a couple of Glantophiles lurking about.  I have thousands of the common ones around the house.  There were here when I arrived 30 years ago.

I will freely admit to the "normal" male-determined cleptomania for narrowly defined plant "groups" ( and very much else in life) - Amarylids, Crinum in particular, Zingergraceae.......................

But as for what are verging on minute variations in Galanthus.......................

I adore snowdrops - the PERFECT harbinger of better times around the corner, but.............................

Maybe just as well, given the prices for many of the micro-variants.......