Petunias Rare and Red
Posted in Around the Garden, Science on April 16th, 2012 by Matt Newman – Be the first to comment
Off on a side table, just inside one of the treated glass superstructures of the Nolen Greenhouses for Living Collections, there stands a spray of stems headed with humble, star-shaped flowers. The aesthetic is nothing wildly exotic–a deep crimson defines the petals. The plant is otherwise unremarkable next to a common garden petunia. And yet the “DO NOT TOUCH” sign hand-written and jabbed in alongside the plant is evidence of its peculiar value. Is it fragile, or perhaps toxic?
Neither in particular. This plant, Petunia exserta, is one of incredible rarity.
read more »