What’s going on with this hairy cat’s-ear? The stem is really thick and bent. The flower head is flattened and it looks like there’s more than one flower. I’ve never seen anything like that before, so I decided to look it up.
This is called plant fasciation. It is a rare condition of abnormal growth where plant tissues become elongated, flattened or contorted. Fasciation can occur in the plant root, stem, flower or fruit. Here, it is definitely in the stem and flower.
There isn’t one known cause of fasciation. Hormones, genetics, bacteria, fungi, viruses and the environment have all been shown to cause it.
I saw this hairy cat’s-ear on the Shiloh Greenway by Church Street Park. Have you seen other plants like this?