Fasciation is a genetic mutation of a plant's growing tip, and it can affect the stem, flowers, or fruits.
Sometimes, the results aren't very dramatic. For example, the growing shoots may end up flattened, splayed apart, or may seem to be made up of several stems fused into one.
But other times, the effects are extremely eye-catching, such as grossly oversized flowers with a weirdly grotesque look — the closer to the ground that fasciation happens, the more exaggerated its effects tend to be.
So since spring is just around the corner, we decided to introduce you to this phenomenon and put together a collection of pics that illustrate the abnormalities that it can lead to.
#1 Fasciated Saguaro Specimen
Image credits: grebilrancher
#2 Daughter Found This Branch And Uses It As Her Magic Wand
Image credits: SMGUTZ01
Michigan State University Extension horticulture educator Gretchen Voyle says that it's important to note that not every odd-looking plant is fasciated.
"With any kind of strange growth, the first thing to do is eliminate the possibility that the odd leaves or stems were caused by a light dose of weed killer or herbicide," she writes.
#3 It Tasted Good Too
Image credits: malfane
#4 Grumpkin - Grape That Looks Like A Pumpkin
Image credits: IReallyLikeRice
#5 An Example Of Fasciation - Rare Mutation That Can Result In Beautiful And Unique Patterning. Daisies Are Particularly Susceptible To It
Image credits: SuperBlowball
Voyle explains that "lawn herbicides with 2-4,D leave grasses untouched, but kill broadleaved plants in lawns."
"However, when a small amount drifts onto a broadleaf plant, it can cause the new growth to take on a bizarre appearance."
#6 Debbie Crest Is Still Going Strong
Image credits: AnthocyaninFarmer
#7 Found This Really Strange-Looking Strawberry
Image credits: reddit.com
#8 Fasciation
Image credits: pinoy3519
#9 Fairy Tale Eggplant
Image credits: medicated_at_dawn
In these cases, leaves can become twisted or pig-tailed, thickened and stiff, almost like rigid plastic.
"Sometimes, tissue is rippled or rolled. There may also be browning to leaf margins or the entire leaf," Voyle adds.
#10 Fascinating Verbena At Gravetye Manor
Image credits: richardclaxtongardens
#11 A Particularly Neat Example Of Fasciation
Image credits: MajoToHyakkihei
#12 Mutant Rose
Image credits: theveryacme
#13 The Mutant Digitalis Has So Many Blooms, The Top Is Spinning
Image credits: sewsarah
#14 Pachypodium Lamerei At The University Of California, Berkeley Botanical Garden
Image credits: GoatLegRedux
#15 Mutant Black-Eyed Susan
Image credits: Dark_Mode_Nose_Wind
#16 A Weird Pineapple That Has Undergone Cresting, Also Known As Fasciation
The weird parts have undergone trauma of some sort (bacterial or viral) or are genetically predisposed to this condition, which is causing abnormal growth patterns along the apical meristem.
Image credits: Donttalktome4
#17 A Group Of Dandelions Fused And Grew Together With One Big Stem
Image credits: jcmonk
#18 It Has Been Blooming Like This For Over 3 Years
Image credits: kagimushi
#19 These Bananas Are Joined Together. It Was Surprisingly Bland And Didn't Taste Very Good
Image credits: mxksowie
#20 I Thought I Might Be Experiencing Some Sort Of Episode When I First Saw This Extraordinary Thistle In Benbecula Yesterday
Image credits: WiWildlife
#21 Not Sure What's In The Water, But It Looks Like At Least 5 Stalks Combined Into One. I Have Named It The Hive
Image credits: IReallyLikeMooses
#22 My First Tomato, I Think I'm Doing Something Wrong
Image credits: cellularized
#23 Amazing Crested Aeonium
Image credits: succulentist
#24 Frankenkiwi
Image credits: Mork978
#25 I Think My Madagascar Palm Is Trying To Flex On Me
Image credits: HonestMicG32
#26 My Double And Triple Apples
Image credits: Hooeylewis-Sagdiyew
#27 My Mutant Sunflower Is Awesome
Image credits: User-name-guy
#28 Had A Visitor On My Crested Cubic Frost
Image credits: AudioVideoDchon
#29 The Corn I Harvested Today Is Looking Freshly Mutated
Image credits: efrasyab
#30 I Couldn’t Wait For This One To Completely Acclimate And Root Before I Share It, She’s Just So Perfectly Mermaid-Shaped
Image credits: cyrilcybernated
#31 Crested Maria
Image credits: AnthocyaninFarmer
#32 Found This Fasciated Silver Celosia Today At The Garden Center
Image credits: mark_s
#33 Fasciated Lemon On My Tree
Image credits: tdoodles97
#34 Growing Stable. My Crested Echeveria Minibelle
Image credits: Personal_Custard7340
#35 Crested Echeveria Lemon Rose
Image credits: Personal_Custard7340
#36 This Fabulous Example Of Fasciation In An Agave Plant Is A Real Monster Nightmare
Image credits: BotanicsMan
#37 My Crested Favorite. It's Called Echeveria Lincoln Frost, Got It Two And A Half Years Ago
He was small and blue, but my grow lights have produced this lovely peach stress color which I love!
Image credits: EvilTriffid
#38 Double Banana? Double Egg Yolk? How About This Here Triple Kiwi
Image credits: SomeoneHad2BeeASista
#39 Mermaid Tail With Lots Of Character
Image credits: succulentzoo
#40 I Have A Mutant Dandelion With 8 Flowers All In One Stem
Image credits: engineer-dad
#41 Absolutely Fasciated By This Eggplant
Image credits: Gravelsack
#42 Giant Echium With Fasciation In My Friend's Back Yard On Northern California Coast
Image credits: stayinglight
#43 Fasciation Is A Common Occurrence In Plants But A Bromeliad Inflorescence Is A 1st For Me
Image credits: indfnsofplnts
#44 Meet Sunny, My Mutant Buddy
Image credits: Gentlehead
#45 My Friend Grew This Fasciated Cucumber
Image credits: entgardener
#46 Euphorbia Susannae Crest Is Growing Like Crazy And Getting More Wrinkled
Image credits: argosdog
#47 My Crested Garden Succulent
Image credits: hmmredditor
#48 Friend At Work Grew This Freak Asparagus
Image credits: ponzLL
#49 That’s A Buttercup
Image credits: follytreearboretum
#50 What Happened To This Zucchini
Image credits: Confusedlemure
