Variegated Wild Plants
I've been finding a few variegated plants this summer, and I've decided to use this journal as a way of tracking what species I find, and the observations.
Variegation is the appearance of differently colored zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants.
From some research, they all appear to be chimeric mutations. Plants that are chimeras contain tissues with more than one genotype. A variegated chimera contains some tissues that produce chlorophyll and others that do not. Because the variegation is due to the presence of two kinds of plant tissue, propagating the plant must be by a vegetative method of propagation that preserves both types of tissue.
Let me know if you find/have found any variegated plants in your adventures!
References:
Marcotrigiano, Michael. “Chimeras and variegation: Patterns of deceit.” HortScience, vol. 32, no. 5, 1997, pp. 773–784, https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.32.5.773.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegation
https://propg.ifas.ufl.edu/03-genetic-selection/04-genetic-chimera.html
