My mom and I were at Costco today and we happened to notice their orchid racks... We were looking at them just for fun when I noticed two orchid blooms were tangled... I went to untangle them when I realized it was really one flower! The bloom and the bloom below it on the same spike both appear to have a genetic mutation of some sort... each bloom appears to be two blooms conjoined at the column/anther and sharing a lateral sepal... the photo's attached...
The plant has three spikes. One, the oldest, appears normal. The second has the two irregular blooms and a few buds, and the third hasn't come into bloom yet. My question is if this is common in orchids and if the rest of the blooms on that spike will be mutated... Anyone have any input?
EDIT: Well, the other flowers on the same spike were normal, so it was just the aforementioned injury... thanks for the input, everyone!
[img]https://i862.photobucket.com/albums/ab182/frankthebonsai/phalmut.jpg[/img][/img]
Phalaenopsis Mutation???
Last edited by midn1352 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 5:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
No idea, but I sure would have picked that one up too.
I'd be curious about the possibility of the mutation being passed on to future generations of Orchids. But then, I have yet to keep mine alive for at least a year before I even think about propagating them....
But I only got my first phal last Christmas, so I have a bit more time to practice - hey, it is still alive (I know what you were thinking there
)
I'd be curious about the possibility of the mutation being passed on to future generations of Orchids. But then, I have yet to keep mine alive for at least a year before I even think about propagating them....
But I only got my first phal last Christmas, so I have a bit more time to practice - hey, it is still alive (I know what you were thinking there
)-
Handsomeryan
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In my very casual readings, twinning of flowers has two relatively common causes. First would be the propagation techniques that used an overabundance of growth stimulators. Second is mechanical injury, or something that damaged the flowering stalk at a critical stage producing sometimes beautiful and sometimes grotesque growth. Neither of these two causes will produce seed that will replicate the odd growth.
I have an impatiens that has one lush shoot with more flowers and bigger leaves than it should. It just happens to be the shoot that had aphids, then I aggressively wiped them off or sprayed them off with bursts of water from the hose. I anticipate it will return to normal growth soon. That's an example of mechanical injury producing lush growth. The same aggressive handling could easily have killed that shoot.
The third fun possibility is a true mutation.
Whatever the cause for this phal, it's a pleasant surprise.
I have an impatiens that has one lush shoot with more flowers and bigger leaves than it should. It just happens to be the shoot that had aphids, then I aggressively wiped them off or sprayed them off with bursts of water from the hose. I anticipate it will return to normal growth soon. That's an example of mechanical injury producing lush growth. The same aggressive handling could easily have killed that shoot.
The third fun possibility is a true mutation.
Whatever the cause for this phal, it's a pleasant surprise.