Hello jai,

I have seen that same strange distorted flower form from time to time. I don't believe it is a disease (Aster Yellows is a virus disease that can affect zinnias, and many other plants, very strangely). I think there is a genetic proclivity toward this developmental aberration in specimens that show it.

In cases when, out of curiosity, I have saved seeds from such zinnias, I have seen recurrences of developmental strangeness, some of them more extreme than the parent. I like different flower forms in zinnias, but not monstrosities. I breed zinnias as a hobby, but I don't breed them to enter in a circus side show.

I notice that in your picture there were a lot of pollen florets. Those should have created floret seeds. Not that it matters. Thanks for calling attention to a thankfully rare zinnia malformation.

ZM

To me it looks like a genetic experiment gone wrong. I once got a petunia seed in my seed packet that had much the same kind of genetic malfunction. The packet came from a reputable company and all the others in the packet were normal. However this petunia flower was enormous and ugly. It was about 3 times the size of a regular grandiflora petunia flower and it seemed like all the energy of the plant went into making that enormous flower because there were no side shoots or other buds. I don't know what would have happened later because it didn't have a long life in my garden.

Seed companies experiment with seeds all the time and that's how we get new varieties. New varieties go through a series of trials before they are sold to the public as a new variety and very few make it to that stage

This is called fasciation. There is a picture of it in the app from the Purdue Plant Doctor (https://purdueplantdoctor.com) in the annual doctor and perennial doctor versions of the app. I am attaching it.

Thank you, jannabee,

Thanks for putting a name to the problem. The Purdue Plant Doctor had this to say about "fasciation".

"The good news is that fasciation itself is not “contagious” and does not spread through a planting. And just because a particular plant exhibited fasciation one season, does not necessarily mean it will again in the future. In most cases, fasciation is just a random oddity."

I have seen fasciation from time to time in my zinnias and it worried me. It's good to know what it is and that it is not contagious and doesn't affect all parts of a plant. I entered the Purdue Plant Doctor into my list of Favorites on my browser.

Thanks again.

ZM

It did affect most or possibly all of the plant.