“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.
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Fasciated Saguaro Specimen
Phoenix AZ!! I hate when movies set in a desert show these on set! Like middle East deserts don't have Saguaros!
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I wonder how old that cactus is, to grow something as incredible as that!
Not age per se. National Park Service: Cristate or “crested” saguaros form when the cells in the growing stem begin to divide outward, rather than in the cir- cular pattern of a normal cactus. This is an unusual mutation which results in the growth of a large fan-shaped crest at the growing tip of a saguaro's main stem or arms..
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I edited for you into a black & white but I can't upload it here. Do you want me to email or text it to you?
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I’d never fully developed an appreciation for the desert until I went to Tucson to see a friends band play at a hotel. We headed out to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Saguaro National Park. I was overwhelmed with the majestic beauty & teeming life all around.
I've seen THIS saguaro!! I was photographed in front of it at the desert botanical gardens in Phoenix
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.
It Tasted Good Too
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!
Grumpkin - Grape That Looks Like A Pumpkin
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
An Example Of Fasciation - Rare Mutation That Can Result In Beautiful And Unique Patterning. Daisies Are Particularly Susceptible To It
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."
Fasciation
Debbie Crest Is Still Going Strong
A Particularly Neat Example Of Fasciation
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.
Found This Really Strange-Looking Strawberry
Mutant Rose
The Mutant Digitalis Has So Many Blooms, The Top Is Spinning
Fairy Tale Eggplant
Pachypodium Lamerei At The University Of California, Berkeley Botanical Garden
Mutant Black-Eyed Susan
It Has Been Blooming Like This For Over 3 Years
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.
Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn
A Group Of Dandelions Fused And Grew Together With One Big Stem
I Thought I Might Be Experiencing Some Sort Of Episode When I First Saw This Extraordinary Thistle In Benbecula Yesterday
Not Sure What's In The Water, But It Looks Like At Least 5 Stalks Combined Into One. I Have Named It The Hive
My First Tomato, I Think I'm Doing Something Wrong
Amazing Crested Aeonium
These Bananas Are Joined Together. It Was Surprisingly Bland And Didn't Taste Very Good
I Think My Madagascar Palm Is Trying To Flex On Me
My Double And Triple Apples
My Mutant Sunflower Is Awesome
Had A Visitor On My Crested Cubic Frost
Frankenkiwi
I Couldn’t Wait For This One To Completely Acclimate And Root Before I Share It, She’s Just So Perfectly Mermaid-Shaped
Found This Fasciated Silver Celosia Today At The Garden Center
The Corn I Harvested Today Is Looking Freshly Mutated
Crested Maria
Fasciated Lemon On My Tree
Crested Echeveria Lemon Rose
Growing Stable. My Crested Echeveria Minibelle
This Fabulous Example Of Fasciation In An Agave Plant Is A Real Monster Nightmare
Double Banana? Double Egg Yolk? How About This Here Triple Kiwi
Absolutely Fasciated By This Eggplant
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!
Stress color? What’s that about. I thought succulent love grow lights?
Mermaid Tail With Lots Of Character
Giant Echium With Fasciation In My Friend's Back Yard On Northern California Coast
Okay, I love plants. But honestly, I'd be scared to get near this thing if it grew in my garden!
Fasciation Is A Common Occurrence In Plants But A Bromeliad Inflorescence Is A 1st For Me
I Have A Mutant Dandelion With 8 Flowers All In One Stem
Meet Sunny, My Mutant Buddy
My Friend Grew This Fasciated Cucumber
Euphorbia Susannae Crest Is Growing Like Crazy And Getting More Wrinkled
My Crested Garden Succulent
Friend At Work Grew This Freak Asparagus
What Happened To This Zucchini
That’s A Buttercup
My Mutated Sunflower Has Bloomed
Too Much Pine, Not Enough Apple
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.
Fasciated Euphorbia I Found At The Store
Crested Saguaro
If only someone could climb up there and put a couple of glowsticks in, it would freak anyone out who saw it
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.
for some reason this completely freaks me out. I really dont like this :-(
Beautiful Crested Pineapple Growing In A Vietnamese Garden
Reminds me of the three-headed knight in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.
In A Fruit Market In Chiang Mai, One Of The Vendors Had This Fasciated Pineapple On Display
On A Hike With My Dad At Sabino Canyon When We Saw This
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.
Triplet Chili
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
My Ascot Rainbow Plant Has A Strange Mutation
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
Huge Crested Sempervivum Jungle Shadows
Crested Agavoides
Fasciated California Poppy I Found At Work Today
An Amazing Crested Succulent Spotted At A Succulent Show
Mutated Daisies In My Garden
Check Out The Fasciation On This Bulbine Lily, It's Crazy Cool
Fasciated Strawberries. The Whole Pack Was Practically Like This
Usually, the bigger the fruit the less tasty... I would be interested to know if these were any good.
Skull Cookie Jar (With Holes Drilled) And Crested Euphorbia Flanaganii
Love This Flower Mutation
Allocasuarina Looking A Little Unnatural
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.
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!
Boyfriend Surprised Me With This Big Crested Opuntia
Just Doing Its Thing
Saw This Beautiful Mutated Pride Of Madeira While Volunteering In The Wetlands Across The Street From My Neighborhood
Scored This Gorgeous Crested Ghost Plant On The 1st Day Of My Plant Vacation
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
Fasciation Can Start Off As A Crest But Then Split Off Into Separate Stems That Develop More Or Less Normally
I've Seen Many Fasciated Fruits And Vegetables, But My Cousin Got Something I've Never Seen Before - Corn
One Of My Dahlias Mutated And Grew About 5 Flower Heads On The Same Stem
Fasciated Echinacea In My Mom's Garden. Never Seen One In Real Life
Check Out This Sweet Potato Vine Mutation. I've Had Vines Do This Before, But Never Like This
This Made Me Stop Today, Ribwort Plantain Seems To Excel In Goofiness
I've Got A Fascinating Fasciation In Thyme. Cool Or Not?
Blooms On My Crested Silver Star Graptoveria
My Neighbor Dug Up A Patch Of Crested Sedum Ochroleucum Because It Was "Unsightly". One Man's Trash, Right?
The Leaf Scars, Scattered Irregularly On The Stalks Of The Sandalwood Tree, Resemble A Clione Climbing A Waterfall
If It Was A Female, Then It Would Definitely Be A Weapon
Crested San Pedro Cactus
Fun Little Mutation In One Of My Coneflowers. Still Pretty And Quite Fun To Look At In The Front Yard
Such A Beautiful Form. Crested Echeveria Monroe
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
Crested Echeveria Cv. Takasagonookina
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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??
Do you mean Trypophobia? *warning, may unlock new fear for people* 😅
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I would like to know what causes this. Something in the air? the water? solar radiation? What??
So will all these plants continue to grow/bloom like this each yr if perennials? O
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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I generally hate looking at/touching plants, but this was horrendous. Interesting article, though.
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??
Do you mean Trypophobia? *warning, may unlock new fear for people* 😅
Load More Replies... I would like to know what causes this. Something in the air? the water? solar radiation? What??
So will all these plants continue to grow/bloom like this each yr if perennials? O
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... I generally hate looking at/touching plants, but this was horrendous. Interesting article, though.
