I walk past this patch of weeds regularly and keep meaning to take a photo to ask if anyone knows what causes this (virus? random mutation?), and also what species this is:
The fruit doesn’t look particularly edible, but the leaves are pretty.
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This appears to be Ampelopsis brevipedunculata ‘Elegans’, a variegated selection of Porcelain vine. Not sure what causes the variegation. The randomness of the patterns makes me think it is not a periclinal chimera. Could be due to a virus or transposable element jumping around.
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Good ID…but the varigation is intentionally propagated and sold by plant nurseries…so it’s not a bug or leaf miner or something…off top of my head I can’t explain in full detail…it is vegetatively reproduced and sold by the thousands or millions because people, especially ladies, think it’s “cute”.
This one looked more like a chance seedling than an intentional planting, but it’s certainly possible this vine predates all the other weeds growing around it!
This species is invasive in a lot of areas. I once worked at a a nursery that had some in pots and noticed they were self seeding near by.
I’d assume the variegation wouldn’t usually be inherited by seedlings though, right?
Hard to say without researching it. Some plants pass on variation to offspring and other don’t. Kinds of depends on what’s causing it.
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