Possible color mutation?

[gr33ntea]

Hi everyone, i have a Variegated Opuntia monacantha variegata. 'Joseph's Coat' and it makes lots of pups. It is actually quite common i see it everywhere

But i have noticed one of the pups is a bright purple color unlike the other pups which are very light pink at the tips . Is this rare? Is it just sun burnt?

I have decided to leave it on and see how big it gets, maybe i'll remove all the other pups so it gets the most nutrition. I don't wanna graft it just yet, i think i will wait a bit.

Edited March 3, 2014 by gr33ntea

[Evil Genius]

I think this is environmentally caused. It´s either Stress from lot´s of Sunlight (not necessarily too much though) or other Light related Factors. For example, if you raise cacti under red LED Lamps, they will change color and look like this.

[djmattz0r]

I have this and mine have turned a dark purple during dormant conditions and full sun... Really quite nice looking compared to the white/pink it normally takes on. Will try to get a pic for comparison tomorrow.

[gr33ntea]

So if i graft it, it will not be puprple?

I have this and mine have turned a dark purple during dormant conditions and full sun... Really quite nice looking compared to the white/pink it normally takes on. Will try to get a pic for comparison tomorrow.

Awesome, can't wait

[paradox]

that clone is really common & i have never seen it NOT have bright pink coloration.

[gr33ntea]

But all of it is purple, maybe it is a mutation pup?

[Evil Genius]

Yes and no. This has to do with the way it reacts to Sunlight and if there is a genetic defect, it might be normal for this Clone to turn red under certain conditions. Like Paradox says, it´s a common clone with the tendency to turn red and that´s gotta have a reason. So your partially right that it´s probably mutated.

[hostilis]

I've never seen this with mine. Pretty cool! That'd be awesome if it kept on going with it's pups when it's bigger.

Edited March 3, 2014 by hostilis

[Optimystic]

if I didn't know better i'd believe it was a mini fruit

[djmattz0r]

I have a feeling if you were to graft it, that it would eventually grow like the rest of the cacti but just my guess. When I first got mine they were mostly just white variegated and had very little pink... over this winter they have gotten quite red/purple especially on the tips with lots of sun.

Here is the same plant, before and after.

Some cuttings which have turned exceptionally purple...

And mother plants!

[Optimystic]

i got a skinny little plant too and grafted a few of what I call the "nipples"

and they are still variegated but shaped more like regular shaped pads

perhaps like a Monacantha Variegate minus the monstrose.. I wonder if they'll got monstrose again

they were really easy to graft to pereskies.. the plant I started with looks just like djMattz0rs in the first pic

I was about to take some pics but my batteries ran out of joos

on this link it says theres more than one joseph's coat and one of them is more likely to

sport the pink http://www.flickriver.com/photos/martenfisher/7452709950/

Edited March 3, 2014 by Spine Collector

[Kykeion]

gr33ntea - I don't have any idea whether your pup there is special or not. I have seen tons of variation amongst these plants but I'm not sure if it is due to varying genetics, or due to environmental adaptation. Kind of an exciting pup either way.

Spine Collector - I have come across various references to several forms of Opuntia monacantha variegata, however nothing very concrete with examples of each. My understanding is that there is "Joseph's Coat" which is variegated and monstrose; a reverted version of "Joseph's Coat" which is no longer monstrose, but still variegated; and a miniature Opuntia monacantha variegata monstrose which is known as "Maverick." Unfortunately there seems to be a tendency to use all of these names/forms interchangeably. And, for all I know they may all be the exact same cultivar anyway.

The best example I have seen comparing these is HERE, but the photo only shows two forms (in addition to two other variegated opuntias), not three. When they claim that their Joseph's Coat is reverted from the monstrose I'm not sure if the poster is suggesting that Joseph's Coat is a non-monstrose reversion of Maverick, of if thrie wording just comes off that way.

[Optimystic]

Here is what mine did... from a small nusery sized starter plant to what one of the nipples reverted to on pereski..

im not sure if its joseph's coat or maverick and/or if a dwarf form exists or not but the one in the link you posted

looks a little different @ Kykeion.. the one on ebay doesn't have very red tips either but then I can only guess

at the difference in growing conditions ... I see what you mean with them not showing they have a regular joseph's

coat but i'd take it to mean that it reverted to just a variegated monacantha

@gr33ntea, I would have to guess just a reaction to sunlight as well but personally I wouldn't be able

to resist grafting half of it maybe if it was still purple after a while ... its oddly purple for being on perhaps a more

shaded part of the plant so who knwos.

Edited March 4, 2014 by Spine Collector

[djmattz0r]

I am interested to see how mine will turn out if grafted after seeing those pics Spine Collector, I will have to run my own experiment. It's strange how grafting makes it revert to non-monstrose growth.

Will do a really red/purp one and a regular one and see if there's any difference as well.

Edited March 4, 2014 by djmattz0r