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“A Real Monster Nightmare”: 50 Times Mother Nature Glitched Out And It Led To Interesting Plants
Fasciation is a genetic mutation of a plant's growing tip, and it can affect the stem, flowers, or fruits.
Sometimes, the results aren't very dramatic. For example, the growing shoots may end up flattened, splayed apart, or may seem to be made up of several stems fused into one.
But other times, the effects are extremely eye-catching, such as grossly oversized flowers with a weirdly grotesque look — the closer to the ground that fasciation happens, the more exaggerated its effects tend to be.
So since spring is just around the corner, we decided to introduce you to this phenomenon and put together a collection of pics that illustrate the abnormalities that it can lead to.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Fasciated Saguaro Specimen
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#2
Daughter Found This Branch And Uses It As Her Magic Wand
Michigan State University Extension horticulture educator Gretchen Voyle says that it's important to note that not every odd-looking plant is fasciated.
"With any kind of strange growth, the first thing to do is eliminate the possibility that the odd leaves or stems were caused by a light dose of weed killer or herbicide," she writes.
#3
It Tasted Good Too
cerinamroth 1 year ago
My dream come true! Seriously, the first thing I ate after I gave birth to my daughter was a whole pineapple. Best reward I could think of!
#4
Grumpkin - Grape That Looks Like A Pumpkin
Claudio Toshio 1 year ago
Looks like a Brazilian Cherry. https://i0.wp.com/revistajardins.pt/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/pitanga-1395857_1920.jpg?fit=1080%2C810&ssl=1
#5
An Example Of Fasciation - Rare Mutation That Can Result In Beautiful And Unique Patterning. Daisies Are Particularly Susceptible To It
30ninjazinmybag 1 year ago
Daisy caterpillar. I used to make them when I was little. So pretty
Voyle explains that "lawn herbicides with 2-4,D leave grasses untouched, but kill broadleaved plants in lawns."
"However, when a small amount drifts onto a broadleaf plant, it can cause the new growth to take on a bizarre appearance."
#6
Fasciation
#7
Debbie Crest Is Still Going Strong
#8
A Particularly Neat Example Of Fasciation
#9
Fascinating Verbena At Gravetye Manor
In these cases, leaves can become twisted or pig-tailed, thickened and stiff, almost like rigid plastic.
"Sometimes, tissue is rippled or rolled. There may also be browning to leaf margins or the entire leaf," Voyle adds.
#10
Found This Really Strange-Looking Strawberry
glowworm2 1 year ago
They do actually. You can find a few of these every once in a while.
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#11
Mutant Rose
#12
The Mutant Digitalis Has So Many Blooms, The Top Is Spinning
#13
Fairy Tale Eggplant
#14
Pachypodium Lamerei At The University Of California, Berkeley Botanical Garden
#15
Mutant Black-Eyed Susan
#16
It Has Been Blooming Like This For Over 3 Years
#17
A Weird Pineapple That Has Undergone Cresting, Also Known As Fasciation
The weird parts have undergone trauma of some sort (bacterial or viral) or are genetically predisposed to this condition, which is causing abnormal growth patterns along the apical meristem.
TheCrazyBunnyLady 1 year ago
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn
#18
A Group Of Dandelions Fused And Grew Together With One Big Stem
#19
I Thought I Might Be Experiencing Some Sort Of Episode When I First Saw This Extraordinary Thistle In Benbecula Yesterday
#20
Not Sure What's In The Water, But It Looks Like At Least 5 Stalks Combined Into One. I Have Named It The Hive
#21
My First Tomato, I Think I'm Doing Something Wrong
#23
These Bananas Are Joined Together. It Was Surprisingly Bland And Didn't Taste Very Good
#24
I Think My Madagascar Palm Is Trying To Flex On Me
#25
My Double And Triple Apples
#26
My Mutant Sunflower Is Awesome
#27
Had A Visitor On My Crested Cubic Frost
#29
I Couldn’t Wait For This One To Completely Acclimate And Root Before I Share It, She’s Just So Perfectly Mermaid-Shaped
#30
Found This Fasciated Silver Celosia Today At The Garden Center
#31
The Corn I Harvested Today Is Looking Freshly Mutated
#33
Fasciated Lemon On My Tree
#34
Crested Echeveria Lemon Rose
#35
Growing Stable. My Crested Echeveria Minibelle
#36
This Fabulous Example Of Fasciation In An Agave Plant Is A Real Monster Nightmare
#37
Double Banana? Double Egg Yolk? How About This Here Triple Kiwi
#38
Absolutely Fasciated By This Eggplant
#39
My Crested Favorite. It's Called Echeveria Lincoln Frost, Got It Two And A Half Years Ago
He was small and blue, but my grow lights have produced this lovely peach stress color which I love!
Kar Red Roses 1 year ago
Stress color? What’s that about. I thought succulent love grow lights?
#40
Mermaid Tail With Lots Of Character
#41
Giant Echium With Fasciation In My Friend's Back Yard On Northern California Coast
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
Okay, I love plants. But honestly, I'd be scared to get near this thing if it grew in my garden!
#42
Fasciation Is A Common Occurrence In Plants But A Bromeliad Inflorescence Is A 1st For Me
#43
I Have A Mutant Dandelion With 8 Flowers All In One Stem
#44
Meet Sunny, My Mutant Buddy
#45
My Friend Grew This Fasciated Cucumber
#46
Euphorbia Susannae Crest Is Growing Like Crazy And Getting More Wrinkled
#47
My Crested Garden Succulent
#48
Friend At Work Grew This Freak Asparagus
#49
What Happened To This Zucchini
#50
That’s A Buttercup
#51
My Mutated Sunflower Has Bloomed
#52
Too Much Pine, Not Enough Apple
#53
Weird Mutation In A Gourd. This Grew At A Local Pumpkin Patch And My Friend Who Works There Grabbed It For Me
I understand gourds grow in all sorts of shapes and sizes, but this one seems a little different.
#54
Fasciated Euphorbia I Found At The Store
#56
Crested Saguaro
cerinamroth 1 year ago
If only someone could climb up there and put a couple of glowsticks in, it would freak anyone out who saw it
#57
Fasciation Mutation In Daisies
On the left, four flower stalks grew together and connected, creating a ring-like flower. On the right, four flower stems grew together in a band, then split into two in the middle and bloomed into two connected flowers.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
for some reason this completely freaks me out. I really dont like this :-(
#58
Beautiful Crested Pineapple Growing In A Vietnamese Garden
Bill Swallow 1 year ago
Reminds me of the three-headed knight in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.
#59
In A Fruit Market In Chiang Mai, One Of The Vendors Had This Fasciated Pineapple On Display
#60
On A Hike With My Dad At Sabino Canyon When We Saw This
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 year ago
Fasciation in plants, such as this cactus, can be caused by random mutations, hormonal imbalances, viruses, bacterial infection, fungi, mites, or damage from insects, cold, heat, or physical injury.
#61
Triplet Chili
#62
Spectacular Example Of Plant Fasciation Seen In This Thistle. Flower Heads And Stems All Fused, Creating A Very Flattened Stem And Brilliant Looking Flower Head
#63
My Ascot Rainbow Plant Has A Strange Mutation
#64
Yesterday I Came Across This Interesting Figwort, Which Was Demonstrating A Condition Known As Fasciation. This Is Where A Mutation Occurs Causing Stems To Appear Fused And Flattened
#66
Crested Agavoides
#67
Fasciated California Poppy I Found At Work Today
#72
An Amazing Crested Succulent Spotted At A Succulent Show
#73
Mutated Daisies In My Garden
#74
Check Out The Fasciation On This Bulbine Lily, It's Crazy Cool
#75
Fasciated Strawberries. The Whole Pack Was Practically Like This
cerinamroth 1 year ago
Usually, the bigger the fruit the less tasty... I would be interested to know if these were any good.
#77
Skull Cookie Jar (With Holes Drilled) And Crested Euphorbia Flanaganii
#79
Love This Flower Mutation
#81
Allocasuarina Looking A Little Unnatural
#82
Meet Broccoli, My Very Crested Multi-Headed Echeveria Perle Von Nurnberg
She’s very top-heavy and is liable to topple any time now. I have to repot her, but I’m dreading it because I think I need to cut her down a bit along the trunk to fit better. Another idea is to turn her into several plants, since she has at least 3, maybe 4 separate crested heads.
Tabitha 1 year ago (edited)
Transfer the plant—-gently!—-to a wider pot to balance the top-heaviness. If need be, add some supports (ones that won’t end up cutting into the plant) to the widest parts to help hold them up. This absolute beauty cannot be cut or allowed to topple, and must be preserved at all costs!
#86
Boyfriend Surprised Me With This Big Crested Opuntia
#87
Just Doing Its Thing
#89
Saw This Beautiful Mutated Pride Of Madeira While Volunteering In The Wetlands Across The Street From My Neighborhood
#92
Scored This Gorgeous Crested Ghost Plant On The 1st Day Of My Plant Vacation
#96
A Thrill To Find This Magnificent Mutant Looming Tall Over The Grassland At Kebble This Morning. For Some Reason, Marsh Thistles Seem Particularly Prone To Fasciation
#99
Fasciation Can Start Off As A Crest But Then Split Off Into Separate Stems That Develop More Or Less Normally
#102
I've Seen Many Fasciated Fruits And Vegetables, But My Cousin Got Something I've Never Seen Before - Corn
#106
Check Out This Sweet Potato Vine Mutation. I've Had Vines Do This Before, But Never Like This
#108
This Made Me Stop Today, Ribwort Plantain Seems To Excel In Goofiness
#110
I've Got A Fascinating Fasciation In Thyme. Cool Or Not?
#116
My Neighbor Dug Up A Patch Of Crested Sedum Ochroleucum Because It Was "Unsightly". One Man's Trash, Right?
#117
The Leaf Scars, Scattered Irregularly On The Stalks Of The Sandalwood Tree, Resemble A Clione Climbing A Waterfall
#121
Crested San Pedro Cactus
#123
Fun Little Mutation In One Of My Coneflowers. Still Pretty And Quite Fun To Look At In The Front Yard
#124
Such A Beautiful Form. Crested Echeveria Monroe
#130
Naupaka Stem Fasciation. This Flattening Of The Stem, Flowers Or, In Some Cases, Leaves Can Be Caused By Bacterial, Viral, Hormonal, Genetic, Or Even Environmental Conditions
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
apparently theres a phobia for everyone. I liked the succulents, but the flowers completely freaked me out, i couldnt stand looking at them, horrible :-( fasciationphobia??
Just_for_this 1 year ago
Do you mean Trypophobia? *warning, may unlock new fear for people* 😅
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Jill 1 year ago
I would like to know what causes this. Something in the air? the water? solar radiation? What??
Kittymom 1 year ago
So will all these plants continue to grow/bloom like this each yr if perennials? O
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 year ago
It depends. Fasciation in plants can be caused by random mutations, hormonal imbalances, viruses, bacterial infection, fungi, mites, or damage from insects, cold, heat, or physical injury. So, it's possible that the cause of one year's fasciation will not be present the next year!
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AmmoniteCat 1 year ago
I generally hate looking at/touching plants, but this was horrendous. Interesting article, though.
Petra Schaap 1 year ago
apparently theres a phobia for everyone. I liked the succulents, but the flowers completely freaked me out, i couldnt stand looking at them, horrible :-( fasciationphobia??
Just_for_this 1 year ago
Do you mean Trypophobia? *warning, may unlock new fear for people* 😅
Load More Replies... Jill 1 year ago
I would like to know what causes this. Something in the air? the water? solar radiation? What??
Kittymom 1 year ago
So will all these plants continue to grow/bloom like this each yr if perennials? O
LakotaWolf (she/her) 1 year ago
It depends. Fasciation in plants can be caused by random mutations, hormonal imbalances, viruses, bacterial infection, fungi, mites, or damage from insects, cold, heat, or physical injury. So, it's possible that the cause of one year's fasciation will not be present the next year!
Load More Replies... AmmoniteCat 1 year ago
I generally hate looking at/touching plants, but this was horrendous. Interesting article, though.
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