Question: A friend of mine recently harvested Garlic Mustard that had leaves with purple undersides and purple stems. We have both …
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Question
A friend of mine recently harvested Garlic Mustard that had leaves with purple undersides and purple stems. We have both found a few patches of these with purple coloring. Most of the other surrounding garlic mustard is bright green, stems & both sides of the leaves. Attached photos are one with slight purple tone and one with darker purple, the middle leaves having a completely purple underside (not easily seen in photo). Do you know what the reason or cause could be for this color variation?
Answer
Wolf-face, thank you for posting. That's interesting. Like you, I typically see green coloration on these plants. Why some are producing purple I can't answer confidently. Some plants do produce pigments this time of year as they offer frost resistance (i.e., protection from cold temperatures). Even though these may be from the same population, different microsites within a population can vary in temperature. However, it may merely have to do with genetic variation within the population.
