actually, that’s an effect called fasciation, and it’s relatively common in the world of plant mutations! it’s characterized by the accidental fusing together of tissues on the stem/organ in question, which can lead to the weird funky/siamese twin flowers you see in the post. more specifically, it happens when the hormones in a plant’s growing tip (the apical meristem, for those plant physiology nerds out there) get messed up for whatever reason and the plant gets confused on what to separate, which results in a ‘crested’ flattened/fused organ. for example in certain plant illnesses it’s directly caused by a bacterial infection; the hormones secreted by the bacteria living in the growing tip mess up the plant’s chemical signaling and cause the fusing effect. it can also happen through all sorts of stuff, including viral, chemical, fungal, and genetic causes.
i’ve seen three plants in my life like that: two were dandelions living by the side of a parking lot at my high school, and one was a branch of a bush that my plant pathology professor brought in to show us. it was on a plant in his backyard, and it had become infected with a bacterial infection that’s known for causing it. he was pretty excited lmao
fasciation happens like…in a SHITLOAD of plants, as long as they’re vascular (meaning not mosses, basically), which makes sense, because the mutation needs a solid stem structure to happen. here’s a fasciated palm!
and a fasciated rose! (no flowers on this one, although i think its really interesting that the plant still managed to make some thorns, if a bit tumultuously):
and of course, gotta have a saguaro cactus! apparently this one lives happily in a botanical park in phoenix, arizona. good for her, out living her best life. shown here next to a normal cactus of the same species.
EXTRA fun fact, you may have seen THIS bad boy at ur local greenhouse, called Celosia argentea var. cristata, or ‘cockscomb celosia’ for short:
well guess what it is??? a fasciated version of Celosia argentea grown commercially specifically for its rad ass appearance!! the normal, unmutated plant looks like this:
seeing the two side by side makes it really easy to see how the plant could have messed them up just by failing to separate the flower stems right.
side note: these are not to be confused with the other variety of this plant, Celosia argentea var. plumosa, which is also popular in north american greenhouses for their funky little floofs (this pic shows a few different available colors, some of which the fasciated version are also grown in):
so in short…. those pics are real. plants just be fucked up like that.
Yay fasciation! Here are my weird fasciated rudbeckia hirta. Someone in a gardening group told me that rudbeckia hirta will fasciate if you so much as look at them wrong, so I was relieved that it wasn’t something to worry about.
Bit of a surprise, cleaning the 180L tank.
Maybe a month ago, I ended up taking the plant filter with spider plants off the back. Don’t really need the extra nitrate removal without messy goldfish in there anymore, and the way it was set up didn’t seem to be good for the light bar in the back. Had to replace the tube again, and decided to get that filter box away from it.
Anyway, those spider plants must not have been ready to go! Didn’t notice the plantlet rooted up in the corner behind that filter box until now.
I’d be tempted just to leave it be, but with the kind of root systems spider plants get? I’m concerned it might damage the filter housing, maybe pry it away from the tank walls. I think it gets to move into a nice pot.
Bright, leafy skunk cabbage at Lake Logan. A lot of old agricultural structure is still visible in the form of wire fences, the remains of a farm pond, and wolf trees along the ridge.
My nephew who travels a lot brought me a beautiful exotic plant. I plant it in the garden, and it grew big with my care. I’m caring for my plants, I talk with them and play the music for them. One day the plants grabbed me with its sprouts. I was scared thinking it was a carnivorous plant. But then I found out it was some sort of greeting and a demonstration of love. The plant always does so when I come near. I thank the Virgin of Zapopan for this relationship because the plants gives us back the love we are giving them.
Living Stones(Dinteranthus vanzylii). Living stones are unusual succulents that have evolved to resemble the pebbles and rocks that litter their native habitats through southern Africa. Structurally, living stones are comprised of two fused leaves above ground that connect to an underground stem with a long root. The leaves are extremely thick and the degree of fusion depends on the species
This adorable little robot is designed to make sure its photosynthesising passenger is well taken care of. It moves towards brighter light if it needs, or hides in the shade to keep cool. When in the light, it rotates to make sure the plant gets plenty of light. It even likes to play with humans.
Oh, and apparently, it gets antsy when it’s thirsty.
The robot is actually an art project called “Sharing Human Technology with Plants” by a roboticist named Sun Tianqi. It’s made from a modified version of a Vincross HEXA robot, and in his own words, it’s purpose is “to explore the relationship between living beings and robots.”
I don’t care if it’s silly. I want one.
OMG it’s like your plants can now be cyborgs and you can interact with them!
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
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