I came across this holly in Worcestershire, UK. Apologies for the picture quality, I'm not a photographer. It seems to have spikes coming directly from the middle of the leaf. Probably a good 50%+ of the leaves had this, the rest all seemed more normal. Does anyone know what's caused this?
by El_CapitanDave
2 Comments
Its an interesting differentiation for sure. I can’t explain why it did this, but I suspect random mutation, or upregulation due to damage or herbivory.
Variation among leaves at different locations of the plant is advantageous for many reasons and is seen among all plants if you know what to look for.
They seem to be galls.
It’s a microrganism that infects the plant and stimulates the growth of the tissue with specific shapes.