Reversion: Weeping Pear

 

Another Reversion tale today, with a slightly weird twist: so before we start, what, exactly, is "reversion"?

As you can tell from the name, it's to do with going backwards: a plant (usually roses, shrubs or trees) has been changed or altered in some way, generally considered to be an "improvement" on the original, and it is attempting to "revert" back to the original.

Usually it's due to it being grafted, and the lower part of the tree, the rootstock, tries to take over from the top part, the scion.

Here's an absolute classic case, a Contorted Hazel, whose rootstock is shoving up lots of straight shoots:

 (the one on the left is a fallen pruned branch, not a shoot!)

 Sometimes it's the colour: variegated plants - which are not usually grafted, they are usually cloned mutations - will often try to revert to being plain green. Here's a branch of variegated Lonicera nitida, mostly variegated: can you see that naughty little plain green bit?....

 

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