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Variegated Commelina communis update
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Posted by rizzir z7b TN (My Page) on Mon, Aug 1, 05 at 22:25
| Remember I said I found two variegated Commelina communis this spring? Well, I have spent the summer propogating it into two large clumps. I will post a pic of it when I get home tonight. Several people on the Name That Plant! forum were convinced I had an escaped houseplant (a form of Tradescantia) on my hands, and that it would bloom white. Well, this is not that. It blooms a lovely blue every morning, just like regular Commelina! Here's a tidbit of plant knowledge for you regarding the type of variegation that my plant likely has... it's kind of like my plant is a mixture of an albino plant (which can't survive in the wild) and a regular one. I noticed that this plant seems a little more "spidery" than regular Commelina, and grows slower. That fits, based on the info below.
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variegation
Chimeral variegation
Plants bearing such variegation are chimeras, with more than one type of genetic makeup in their tissues. A lack of chlorophyll producing tissue in some tissues causes variegation with white or yellow coloured zones on the leaf, contrasting with the usual green tissue. It is due to some of the plant’s meristematic tissue losing the ability to produce chloroplasts, so that the tissue it produces is no longer green.
There are several types of such variegation, depending on the tissues that have been affected. The variegation in some forms is unstable. The extent and nature of the variegation can vary, and sometimes the plant will return to the green form. In others it is stable and does not change under normal conditions.
Because the variegation is due to the presence of two kinds of plant tissue, propagating the plant must be by a vegetative method of propagation that preserves both types of tissue in relation to each other.
As these plants have some of their tissue unable to carry out photosynthesis, the plant will be weaker than the plain green plant. They should generally be expected to die out in nature. |
Follow-Up Postings:
pic of the varigated Commelina
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| Here's the pic I promised. 
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RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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| Very pretty! You definitely need to spread pieces of that around to several different people. After all, you wouldn't want to lose the clone, would ya? ;-) |
RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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I love those blue flowers and the variegated leaves. I think my neighbor has some of those and she said she would give me some next spring.
Katie |
RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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| I will DEFINITELY be giving away starts of this plant, Ione. Especially to you - I remember you were interested when you first saw it, when it was just a baby. The variegation really intensified with a few calculated pinchings to get rid of the greener material and leave just the most striped tissue. I'm hoping to bring out tinges of pink next (I think there are some.) I'm a little concerned that it might not overwinter well indoors... it sulks if it's in a darker area. It might like a window, because it appears happiest on the "forest edge." I've been rubbing the flowers together in the hopes of having some seed (though I'm not sure I'll ever see the seed - I've read that they seem to seed "magically" when no one is looking!) |
RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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| Yer a doll. :-) I have a nice tradescantia I can trade you. It's not variegated, but it's soft and fuzzy -- it's called "Baby Bunny Bellies". ;-) |
RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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| Very interesting! Ya oughtta send that guy a pic -- it looks like it's never been reported in Tennessee before. :-) |
RE: Variegated Commelina communis update
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- Posted by ademink z5a-5b Indianapolis (My Page) on
Sat, Jul 9, 11 at 11:58
| I had the same thing happen. One just popped up between my bricks in my patio! So cool! Wondering what ever happened with yours. :) |
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