Vitex negundo incisa variant?

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kathy__bee Plano, TX(Zone 8a) Apr 25, 2014

Last spring, I decided I wanted a Vitex negundo incisa. It seemed like the perfect plant for deep summer color in a water-restricted climate. And I liked the ragged look of the severely incised leaves, but I could not find a live plant, so I ordered 50 seeds. I planted them all in 4 three-gallon buckets in general potting mix, full sun, watered them daily and they all seemed to sprout. I thinned them out to 2 plants in each bucket, trying to select for the deeply incised leaves. Unfortunately, not all Vitex negundo incisa seed makes the characteristic leaf shape. Only a very few do. Nor do they start gaining definition to their leaf shape until the seedlings are significantly large. So, I thinned them at about 6" tall as best I could. They grew to 4 ft tall in one season. They bloomed blue and white flowers. The bees LOVED these flowers. They produced seed. They were a success! Only 1 of the 8 plants had very incised leaves, like I was originally looking for. The others all had cannabinoid-like serrated edges with 3-5 leaves.

So this year, I decided I only want to keep the seedling that has the characteristic ragged leaves. I figured that I will let them leaf out and give away the orphans. As they started to leaf out, I noticed in one of the buckets, all of the plants....meaning my 2 one-yr-old seedlings + all the new sprouts from last year's seed....have only 3 leaves. Also, these leaves are closer to the stem, tighter in pattern and appear more densely leaved.

Has anyone had this happen from Vitex seed? Is this a known stable variant or an old genetic throwback from parentage of V. Negundo incisa? The buckets all got the same amount of water, sun, soil, etc. I can't remember what the bloom color was, but I do know that I had all colors from periwinkle blue to almost white. With so much variation between leaf shape and flower color from the remaining 8 plants, it is hard to think of any trait as stable in this system making this one bucketful of 3-leaf seedlings seem odd.
Any info on this variation would be appreciated.
Thanks! Kathy

Post #9821670
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Pseudo Eau Claire, WI(Zone 4a) Apr 25, 2014

Quote from kathy__bee :
...and appear more densely leaved.


That is so interesting. You took us through the whole process in such a clear manner that even I followed it. What's quoted is the only part I question. Are you saying it's an optical illusion?

Post #9821815
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kathy__bee Plano, TX(Zone 8a) Apr 26, 2014

Yes. I could clarify and say the petioles are a bit shorter, so it appears more densely leaved.
It seems very weird for all plants in one pot to be so entirely different.
Kathy

Post #9822844
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