Blinky the mutant daisy

mcbert

Hi, was hiding easter eggs at the weekend for my daughter, and noticed this. Never seen this before.

Just wondering how odd is it really? This sort of thing happen regularly enough?

I suppose, what looks like 3 daisy flowers, have merged into one. Even the stems have merged, although even that is much wide that a normal stem, while still flat...

Cul a cnoic

From here

Fasciation

Fasciation is a condition of plant growth in which the apical meristem, normally concentrated around a single point, producing approximately cylindrical tissue, becomes elongated perpendicularly to the direction of growth, producing flattened, ribbon-like, crested, or elaborately contorted tissue. The phenomenon may occur in the stem, root, fruit, or flower head.Fasciation (also: cresting) can be caused by a mutation in the meristematic cells, bacterial infection, mite or insect attack, or chemical or mechanical damage. Some plants may inherit the trait. Fasciation is rare overall, but has been observed in at least a hundred different plant species, including members of Aloe, Celosia, Delphinium, Digitalis, Euphorbia, Forsythia, Primula, Acer, Prunus and many genera of Cactaceae (cactus) and Salix. Cresting results in undulating folds instead of the typical "arms" found on mature Saguaro cactus[1] Some varieties of Celosia are raised especially for their dependably fasciated flower heads, for which they are called "cockscomb".

looksee

What he said ^^^ but - yes, fascinating (sorry ! ) but not desperately unusual, daisies seem particularly prone to getting confused like that.