Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Wordless Wednesday 3 Headed Double Stemmed Dandelion: Flower Fasciation

 

My son Jaedan holding a fasciated dandelion.

Fasciation is a rare condition in plants that is caused by genetic mutations and/or hormonal imbalances in the meristematic (growing) cells from the meristem (growing tip) of the plant. This can cause stems that look like they have been flattened and fused together, more than one flower head when there is supposed to be only one, etc. These oddities and abnormalities in plants are not completely understood by science.

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