FOTD – September 21 – Mutant Poppy

I always look forward to the coming of Spring each year for a number of reasons, one of which is to see what new surprises my poppy plants can produce.

This year they have not let me down and have surprised me  with a completely new mutation: A two-headed poppy!! 🙂

(Click on image to open in a new window and click again to expand)I first noticed this bright red poppy growing a ‘second head’. 🙂

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A close-up shot showing the mutated flower attached to the top of the stalk after the original flower dropped it’s petals.

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The original calyx still clings to the underside of the new flower – as do some of the first flower’s black stamen!

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Three days later the flower is still trying it’s hardest to open out it’s contorted petals. Most poppy’s usually drop their petals in two days, sometimes even the same day they open! 🙂

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You can compare the size of the mutated flower with a normal poppy next to it ( that one was only open on the day i took this shot). If you look closely and follow the stem holding the original seedpod and the mutated second flower down toward the leaves you can see that there is another stem coming from out of a single stalk making 3 poppy heads on a single stalk! (One has dropped it’s petals, one is the mutation, which is the same age as the single pod (4 days), and the one in the middle is brand new).

The poppy on the right is from a separate stalk/plant.

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link to:

Cee’s Flower of the Day – September 21, 2019 – Pampus Grass

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love.