Weird Wednesday – Foxglove Fasciation

Posted on June 20, 2023 by Eliza Waters
  • Terminal bud fasciation
  • Fasciation closeup
  • Fasciation sideview
  • Normal Foxglove

Fasciation is described as abnormal fusion and flattening of plant organs, usually stems, resulting in ribbon-like, coiled and contorted tissue. The growing tip or apical meristem of the plant, which normally produces cylindrical tissue, instead becomes elongated perpendicularly to the direction of the growth or it splays out to the sides. There are a number of possibilities as to why fasciation occurs that relate to hormonal, genetic, bacterial, fungal, viral and environmental causes. 

Source
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About Eliza Waters

Gardener, photographer, naturalist, writer
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72 Responses to Weird Wednesday – Foxglove Fasciation

  1. Ellen's avatar Ellen says:
    June 20, 2023 at 11:36 pm

    Interesting! I’ve never seen that.

  2. Dawn Minott's avatar Dawn Minott says:
    June 20, 2023 at 11:42 pm

    Fascinating. I learned something new today. Thanks prof Eliza 😀

  3. Karen Lang's avatar Karen Lang says:
    June 20, 2023 at 11:58 pm

    Fascinating Fasciation 🌼🌼🌼

  4. Audrey Driscoll's avatar Audrey Driscoll says:
    June 21, 2023 at 1:31 am

    That looks a bit weird but not really abnormal. I’ve seen this phenomenon on different plants, most recently Erysimum “Bowles Mauve” wallflower. For some reason it gives me the willies.

  5. Denzil's avatar Denzil says:
    June 21, 2023 at 1:31 am

    I love foxgloves and have never seen nor read of this. Thanks for the education Eliza! I wonder if the bees still visit them?

  6. Pingback: Weird Wednesday – Foxglove Fasciation | Purplerays

  7. Chloris's avatar Chloris says:
    June 21, 2023 at 3:37 am

    Weird isn’t it? But quite pretty. I’ve seen it in Delphinium and Echinacea. I wonder if it only happens in cerain plantss.

    • Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:
      June 21, 2023 at 8:39 am

      Thank you, Liz. I’ve seen it mostly in composite flowers, like zinnia, rudbeckia and goldenrod. Some plants might be more disposed to the deviation.

  8. Cathy's avatar Cathy says:
    June 21, 2023 at 5:16 am

    Weird and wonderful, and just a tiny bit scary…. what next?!😉

  9. Alice's avatar Alice says:
    June 21, 2023 at 5:57 am

    What a beautiful color! I thought what Karen wrote. Very interesting….I’ve seen it on my Foxglove, but didn’t know what it was…..now I need to find the photos.

  10. Judy@NewEnglandGardenAndThread's avatar Judy@NewEnglandGardenAndThread says:
    June 21, 2023 at 6:29 am

    Interesting. I’ve had two beautiful pink foxglove for years, but this year the plants never appeared. I miss them.

    • Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:
      June 21, 2023 at 8:34 am

      Being biennials, they can disappear. Every year, I save a bloom stalk for seed when deadheading, and sprinkle it about like a salt shaker when mature to ensure future plants.

  11. Treah Pichette's avatar Treah Pichette says:
    June 21, 2023 at 6:42 am

    Wow….how weird! I never would have guessed that flower grew on a foxglove. It looks like a passion flower or something.

    • Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:
      June 21, 2023 at 8:31 am

      Yes, it has been interesting watching it develop. It is only in the terminal bud, which in foxglove are the last to bloom, but in this case is the first. Definitely weird!

  12. shoreacres's avatar shoreacres says:
    June 21, 2023 at 6:47 am

    I really enjoy finding fasciated plants. I keep a little file of ‘oddities,’ and so far I have about a dozen tucked in there: even one of our Texas dandelions. Some of the anomalies I’ve found aren’t precisely fasciated, since they lack the flattened stems, but they’re just as interesting.

  13. Laurie Graves's avatar Laurie Graves says:
    June 21, 2023 at 6:50 am

    A new one for me, too.

  14. Barbara Rodgers's avatar Barbara Rodgers says:
    June 21, 2023 at 7:20 am

    How interesting, I learned something new today! Thank you, Eliza. 🙂 (At first I thought I read Foxglove Fascination…) Will be looking out for instances of fasciation now.

  15. Dale's avatar Dale says:
    June 21, 2023 at 8:40 am

    Weird and delightfully fascinating!

  16. neihtn2012's avatar neihtn2012 says:
    June 21, 2023 at 9:31 am

    Fasciation! Thanks, I learned a new word!

  17. Debbie's avatar Debbie says:
    June 21, 2023 at 10:29 am

    I’ve never heard of such, Eliza — thanks for opening my mind to new possibilities! And what a pretty, delicate color this is!

  18. Kris P's avatar Kris P says:
    June 21, 2023 at 3:56 pm

    That’s the first time I’ve seen a foxglove do that! I’ve come across more fasciation in plants of late. I’ve even seen it in Aloe flowers. I don’t know if I’m just quicker to notice it, or if something in the environment is causing it to occur more frequently.

    • Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:
      June 21, 2023 at 7:22 pm

      I’ve wondered the same thing, but I guess it is a fairly common occurrence with multiple causes. The site I quoted suggests cutting it and disposing of it in case it is viral or bacterial, but I’ve not noticed its happening here all that much.

  19. Frogend_dweller's avatar Frogend_dweller says:
    June 21, 2023 at 6:42 pm

    Weird! The flower doesn’t really look distorted, just like something else … funnily enough a zinnia 😆? I saw this same type of damage in a couple of common digitalis purpurea here last year.

  20. Bay Photos By Donna's avatar Bay Photos By Donna says:
    June 21, 2023 at 8:05 pm

    Interesting, and that’s a lovely shade of yellow!

  21. belindagroverphotography's avatar belindagroverphotography says:
    June 21, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    Curious. Does it effect the same plant more than once?

    • Eliza Waters's avatar Eliza Waters says:
      June 22, 2023 at 8:55 pm

      It seems to appear randomly to only one blossom at a time. There are several things that they attribute it to, so I suppose if the plant was perennial and it was a virus, it might appear again. However, I’ve never seen that myself, mostly I’ve seen it on annuals like zinnia and biennals like black eyed-Susan and this foxglove.

  22. Vicki's avatar Vicki says:
    June 21, 2023 at 9:45 pm

    Very interesting. I’ve never heard of the word or seen examples before, but that may merely be that a more conventional bloom has drawn my attention.

  23. Born To Organize's avatar Born To Organize says:
    June 21, 2023 at 10:23 pm

    I’m as intrigued as the rest of your readers, Eliza. I’ve not heard this term before.

  24. denisebushphoto's avatar denisebushphoto says:
    June 22, 2023 at 11:50 am

    I learned something new too! This will be extra pretty once all the blooms open.

  25. Adele Brand's avatar Adele Brand says:
    June 22, 2023 at 4:59 pm

    Interesting! I must look out for this.

  26. Jet Eliot's avatar Jet Eliot says:
    June 23, 2023 at 9:20 am

    Perfect foxglove for Weird Wednesday, Eliza. I’ve seen this before in plants, nice to know there is a science behind it. Lovely photo, lovely big yard.

  28. Robin's avatar Robin says:
    June 23, 2023 at 3:16 pm

    Interesting! And beautiful. I kind of like weird and unusual. 🙂

  29. Steve Gingold's avatar Steve Gingold says:
    June 24, 2023 at 4:14 pm

    A bloom that rebels against the norm. Fasciation is fascinating. 🙂 So far I’ve not seen this anomaly on our foxgloves.

  30. pbmgarden's avatar pbmgarden says:
    June 24, 2023 at 4:23 pm

    The garden is a constant source of amazement.

  31. Pepper's avatar Pepper says:
    June 24, 2023 at 5:04 pm

    Great job capturing the details. 😊

  32. Eunice Miller's avatar Eunice Miller says:
    June 24, 2023 at 8:22 pm

    OH, gardens give us many treasures. Have a wonderful Sunday!

  33. jmankowsky's avatar jmankowsky says:
    June 24, 2023 at 8:53 pm

    This is all new to me! Love the yellow color!

  34. Steve Schwartzman's avatar Steve Schwartzman says:
    June 26, 2023 at 7:04 am

    Fasciation is fine fun.

  35. Rameen's avatar Rameen says:
    July 16, 2023 at 2:23 am

    Its very interesting. A new one for me to.

Comments are closed.