Oddballs
Plants don’t read our guide books and floras. Sometimes they like to break from the norm and do their own thing. This can be problematic if we’re not familiar enough with a plant to recognize it in spite of its unusual form. Certain plants are more prone to aberrant forms. Monocots seem to have an independent streak (yes, that’s a pun when it comes to the variegated leaves). And you can see from all the photos of bunchberry, that they have numerous odd forms. Sometimes plants are affected in strange ways from external influences, like gall making insects. All of these can really confuse the budding botanist, but that’s what makes them so interesting! Here are some plants that like to break rules.
Doubled flowers, extra or missing petals, two flowers on normally single-flowered plants
21 Photos
Albinos and other color forms and unusual markings
35 Photos
White, yellow, or light green markings seem to appear most often in monocots
5 Photos
Galls and other things that affect plant growth
22 Photos