pics How rare is a variegated leaved mutant? Pics included!

[djsketchie]

My question is, how rare is it for a pepper variety to randomly have variegated leaves? Do any of you have experience with any of your seedlings that uncharacteristically put out this trait?

Thing is, this year is the year of the fish pepper for me, because I like the fact that it has a somewhat regional history, and it is a beautiful plant with creamy white variegated leaves and peppers that are supposedly as hot as a jalepeno. All around good traits, I would say...and here I stumble upon another variegated leaved pepper, as explained below.

SO...I doubt many of you have actually clicked on my grow log link at the bottom of my posts, but I really wanted some input, comments, insight on what you think about this hot banana pepper that I found at work a few weeks ago. I almost s#!t my pants when I saw it and quickly hid it underneath the employees table to save it for myself. I love the color of the leaves, I actually really like banana peppers as a good year round condiment, and I like the idea that I may have some rare seed to share with other members that aren't completely obsessed with superhots once i grow the second generation out to see if they continue this trait.

Also, I would like to announce that I just landed an internship with a land conservancy organization that I have had my eye on for the past few years, and I am pretty much on cloud 9 right now.

Awesome Peppers...Awesome Job...Awesome Friends...what else do you need?

 

[djsketchie]

Oh, and a friend who just spent 6 months in the galapagos doing research told me she smuggled some native chile pepper seed out of the country for me. Double score...

 

[JungleRain]

Those Variegated leaves look really nice Chris,
I grew the fish just this season and really liked they way that the pods were so varied in colour.
thats great news about you getting your dream job, all looking really good for you right now I guess, good luck with every thing

 

[salsalady]

'Sketchie, I don't have a clue about the variegated leaves, they are cool looking! Just wanted to say Well Done! Life is Good!

 

[Blister]

A quick google search turned this up

Variegated Leaves

Total absence of plastid pigments causes a sector of a leaf or stem to have white patches. This condition is termed variegation (Metrosideros). Variegation is produced when there is a cell mutation (cytological chimera), and all cells produced from that mutant mother cell lack the pigments, either because plastids are not present or the plastid cannot complete the manufacture of the pigment apparatus. White, therefore, is where color is missing. The zones where chloroplasts are not present are zones where no photosynthesis will occur, hence a variegated leaf has a lowered potential to fix carbon dioxide into sugars, and as a consequence, a variegated plant also tends to grow more slowly.

Variegated leaves occur rarely in nature but are extremely common among indoor and outdoor ornamentals, where they have been saved as horticultural oddities. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rain forest, and this habitat is the source of a number of variegated house plants. The appearance of variegation in the tropical forest understory, if not simply by accident, has not been given a plausible explanation.

Some variegated ornamentals have only a fringe of white around the leaf (Example: Pittosporum), sometimes irregular dots (Examples: a bromeliad and Begonia) and spots (Examples: Dieffenbachia, an aloe, and an orchid), sometimes broad panels of white (Examples: a bromeliad, shell ginger, Pisonia, and a fig), and even an occasional leaf that is totally achlorophyllous (white; Example: Hedera helix). Among monocotyledons, strips of stem internode may also be achlorophyllous (Example: variegated sugar cane). On a single plant, you can observe leaves with all different degrees of variegation, but a plant may also produce individual leaves or entire shoots that are all green (Examples: Coprosma, Abutilon, Euonymus, and Bougainvillea), and which did not involve mother cells with mutant plastids. On the same plant, totally green leaves tend to be much larger than the variegated ones. Some very colorful variegated horticultural forms occur when the leaf cells can produce vacuolar pigments, such as anthocyanins, which then produce patches of pink where chlorophyll is absent (Example: Acalypha).

Out of the tropics have arisen some very unusual variegated forms (Example: a gesneriad). One of the most photographed is a species of Calathea, which has patches of green, surrounded by white tissue resembling a set of leaves within a single leaf blade.

It is easy to dismiss variegation as an uninteresting series of mutant forms, rare in nature, but there are some plants living in full-sun habitats that possess variegated leaves. Examples are certain species of clover (Trifolium), possessing a V-shaped clear mark on each leaflet. Among tropical epiphytes are numerous species of bromeliads and certain orchids. Typically, variegated individuals can persist in nature via cloning, i.e., vegetative propagation by forming new plants from buds, as in bromeliads, orchids, aloes, and agaves, rather than via seeds, which would necessarily be a rare event.

Many leaves have white or nongreen veins, causing the leaf to appear variegated (Examples: an aroid, Sanchezia, striped inch plant, and milk thistle). The white vein is caused by the absence of chlorophyll-bearing cells above or below the conducting tissues of the vein. Most commonly, no stomates are found directly on a vein, so the cells, incapable of receiving adequate carbon dioxide, are not equipped for photosynthesis. Leaves with white veins should not be classified as variegated, although they are sometimes also grown as horticultural oddities.

SOURCE

 

[ABurningMouth]

I'm surprised that the light patches have such a yellow color. That seems kinda rare. Keep us updated on the pod shape and color.
Some of my plants got crossed with a variegated one nearby, so it's easy to do.

 

[djsketchie]

I was initially wondering whether the pepper was the result of a cross at the nursery, but this particular vendor only sells the really common orange habs, jalepenos, long slim red cayennes, serranos, etc...so I am fairly convinced that this is a mutation. If the pods themselves turn out to have some sort of variegation like the fish pepper, i will be really stoked. In any case, I am going to do some rapid germination after my first pods ripen up so I can see if any of the seedlings carry the same trait. I will keep you guys updated for sure...