The other day, I was trimming the faded leaves off of one of my caladiums and was startled to see this on the under side of the leaf. I have about 40 of them and only three have these odd growths on the back of the leaf. Only one leaf from the bulb is like this, and the other leaves from the same bulb are perfectly normal. Does anyone have any experience with something like this?
Their was a guy who visited me last year who works for the university of Louisville who has done a lot of work on this subject. I have his papers and may need to scan them in so others can read of his work. This is a mutation I have heard it refereed to as muculata which usually means spotted. I am not sure if this is a correct term for the mutation. The main idea in this is the genetics are a bit screwed up the vein cells are being told to produce leaf cells rather than vein cells this causes the mutation when the cells begin building something other than they are suppose to. This can be brought on by certain chemicals through TC or just spontaneous mutation. In some cases it is stable and will continue on even in the sucker plants.
Thank you Brian. That sounds like something that I would enjoy reading, if you make it available to us. This is not an unattractive mutation, just a bit surprising. They almost look like little ears or even like tiny calla lillies.
