I wanted to research the possible causes of some weird flower mutations I’ve been running across, but I don’t know what to search for. Is there a name for this form of mutation? Petals are absent, and instead of growing the normal flower parts the calyx does some very strange things:
Hm, im more familiar with Pink Honeysuckle as its local, it looks to be infested with aphids which could affect the growth of the flowers and deformity, aphids can be especially brutal to honeysuckle plants.
Interesting! I’m not sure what’s causing those, but another thing to consider is that some gall and rust mites, viruses or other insects can potentially cause a kind of similar deformity.
I think the name for this kind of deformity is phyllody, when petals don’t develop normally and are replaced by leafy/leaf-like structures. It can be caused by viruses or other pathogens, and occasionally environmental factors (according to wikipedia). There is a rose cultivar bred specifically for it, called the “green rose”.
(Talking about Scrophularia not the honeysuckle)
To your secondary question - a famous flower mutation class that can result in beautiful flowers is pelorism, where normally bilaterally-symmetric flowers revert to radial symmetry. Often, knocking out a single gene, CYCLOIDEA, is all that it takes for this reversion to occur.