fasciation
Sign in to savethumb|275px|Wyethia helianthoides or mule's ear wildflower (on right) showing fasciation thumb|200px|A "crested" saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), resulting from fasciation, located at Saguaro National Park (West), Arizona, U.S. Fasciation (pronounced , from the Latin root meaning "band" or "stripe"), also known as cresting, is a relatively rare condition of abnormal growth in vascular plants in which the apical meristem (growing tip), which normally is concentrated around a single point and produces approximately cylindrical tissue, instead becomes elongated perpendicularly to the directio
Article
8 sectionsContents
- Cause
- Occurrence
- Prevention
- Examples
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|275px|Wyethia helianthoides or mule's ear wildflower (on right) showing fasciation thumb|200px|A "crested" saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea), resulting from fasciation, located at Saguaro National Park (West), Arizona, U.S. Fasciation (pronounced , from the Latin root meaning "band" or "stripe"), also known as cresting, is a relatively rare condition of abnormal growth in vascular plants in which the apical meristem (growing tip), which normally is concentrated around a single point and produces approximately cylindrical tissue, instead becomes elongated perpendicularly to the direction of growth, thus producing flattened, ribbon-like, crested (or "cristate"), or elaborately contorted tissue. Fasciation may also cause plant parts to increase in weight and volume in some instances. The phenomenon may occur in the stem, root, fruit, or flower head.
Some plants are grown and prized aesthetically for their development of fasciation. Any occurrence of fasciation has several possible causes, including hormonal, genetic, bacterial, fungal, viral and environmental causes.