Mutated Rosemary

Hi. Before I go any further, I will explain that I'm not talking about my aunt Rosemary. She isn't a mutant and if she was, I'd be on a biology page.

Anyway, I was doing some weeding at the weekend and filled a few buckets when I saw some straggly looking dandelions growing through my Rosemary bush.

So on closer inspection, it was a sow thistle variety, so I followed the head to the base where it grows out the earth.

To my shock and horror I found the stem growing FROM the Rosemary branch. It was like some siamese twin, or something.

Regrettably I pulled off the sow thistle in disgust and did not photograph.

So are these mutations common? Has anybody heard of this before? Please help.

Ps I do not live near Chernobyl.

 

Second of another thread started by Kenny; think it’s a windup.

 

Hi, the first post was a welcome.

This is a genuine thing. Yes I also have a sense of of humour and a dramatic narrative style.

I will have a search to see if there are any other mutations.

But seriously is this a known thing in plant biology ?

 

How about Sellafield then.
So was the sow thistle growing from the soil or the branch? Or was it in the soil very close to the rosemary?
Seriously though a rosemary cannot mutate into a sow thistle.

 

I thought that the sow thistle was growing out the ground as you naturally would, but two stems of sow were coming directly from the Rosemary plant branches.

I'll try and attach a photo tomorrow but like I say, I pulled the Rogue plant away.

It was only later I thought it was might be really unusual.

If it grows back I'll definitely keep it as a specimen.

I did try googling and it seems stuff can be spliced together... I just wondered if it could happen naturally somehow .

Honestly, I'm slightly freaked out by it. My partner also saw it so it isn't a case of me loosing my facilties.

 

I should add I have had the Rosemary for about 7 years.

 

I say a sow thistle seed landed on rosemary branch in a crack and started to grow, roots through the bark and living off the sap of the rosemary,

But i could be wrong

 

Thanks Jiffy. That's a plausible explanation.

 

A bit like mistletoe then?

 

Nigel J, is there an article I can read on Mistletoe you can recommend? I'm a year 1 gardener so my knowledge is generally based on planting stuff from garden centres and hope it grows.

 

Sow thistles can grow on very bad ground

 

Post a picture kenny

 

Hi. Like I said I tore the stalks off . I can send a pic of the remaining Rosemary tomorrow but it just looks like a Rosemary bush.

I was asking for information, rather than attempting to gain provenance of this phenomenon as I have pretty much destroyed the evidence (please see above).

 

Have a look at Mistletoe (Viscum album) - Woodland Trust and Mistletoe/RHS Gardening
There are very few plants like mistletoe.

 

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