Mutant Osteospernum?

Spotted this osteospernum flower this evening - do they always close up for night time like this (and I just haven't noticed before) - or is this one a mutant? (I had a definite mutant on the same plant a couple of years ago - it had twin centres!)

 

Fantastic jarbax, dont think its normal.

You dont live near a nuclear power station by any chance, do you:D

I mean does it glow in the dark as well.:D

 

Well...Chapelcross was demolished earlier this year, it wasn't so very far away!!!

Will have to wait til darkness falls to check out it's luminousity! :D

 

Jee, is that real? Not photoshop? lol, I never saw anything like that. It´s fantastic. If you could reproduce it you could become famous and may be even rich . Gorgeous.

 

Ooo - rich and famous...now you're talking!!!

I'm not that clever with photoshop Ivory! Just went to check if it had started to glow, and realised that it is 'inside out'! The underside is showing uppermost, and the pink that is usually seen is beneath!

 

That is very strange JarBax.

 

Don't know what it is jarbax, but pretty stunning in its own right!! 02

 

JarBax a mutation is a change in the DNA of a plant or animal. The change can be good or bad. Sometimes a mutation occurs in the cells that form our skin, and we have a patch of skin that is a different color.In plants it can be caused by bacteria, plant breeders introduce chemical substances to creat these mutants they use substances like colchicine, when a desirable mutant is produced the trick is to "fix" it and that's the hard bit.

 

Yup one of my favourite hydrangeas was obtained with the use of colchine. I sounds a bit like a trick if you ask me,but the plant is so beautiful that I cannot be to upset by how artificially it came into the world.

 

Thanks walnut - I nearly understood that! (science not a strong point, but you put it well!)

It is definitely a weird one - if not a 'true' mutant! Just going out to check on it - wish had remembered earlier in the day, when the sun was shining!

 

Jarbax, you need to take cuttings from the plant to see if the "sport " and that`s what it is, will carry on. Best of luck, it looks a stunner.

 

Yikes, I was out for a peek earlier, and it seems the bloom has passed, along with several of it's neighbours. Will take some cuttings, from around and about, and see what happens!

 

You don`t want the flower on there ( the cuttings ) anyway Jarbax. You want the slips to create roots quickly, not have to maintain flowers. :thumb: