I think you mean is it a pinwheel. There are pinwheels that are NOT chimeras, and there are some chimeras that are not pinwheels (chimeral folage for example). Take one of the blossoms stems, leave it on the plant, but remove the blossoms and leave the leaves and stalk, and then grow those suckers. Do not remove the stalk from the plant until the suckers have grown. If the new sucker is true, take a leaf, and if it reverts, it is a chimera. I just wrote an article on this which will be published in the AVSA magazine. Neil

My understanding of Av genetics is more than a bit fuzzy, but I'll give it a shot. Chimera AVs have two sets of DNA, and they express this through stripes on the flowers (more rarely through the foliage); they're always 'pinwheel' -- stripes down the middle of the petals, and the main color on the sides. One set of DNA is in the 'skin' of the plant, and the other is in the inside tissues. When you grow babies from leaves, the new plants grow from the external tissue, which means it only gets one set of DNA, and therefore one color. When you grow plants from suckers and the crown, obviously it gets both sets. This whole arrangement is pretty unstable, and plants can revert to one or the other color, especially when stressed (you forget to water, bug attack, etc.). Got it? Korina the Konfused ~embrace the confusion~ ÂNever trust anything that can think for itself if you canÂt see *where it keeps its brain*! ~Arthur Weasley

TGIF, by the way... DH is getting out of the hospital tomorrow - now part of his aorta is made of Teflon. Yukako is absolutely unique. It is a very stable chimera, it doesn't turn blue.Plus it is an easy hardy plant. If you root the suckers - you get true Yukako, another chimera with green stripes on white and another chimera with dark blue stripes on light blue petals - you really need to look - otherwise it not evident. More of it - it is a chimera - that sometimes gives you a chimera from the leaf. It holds the flowers for long long time - lots of AVs with green flowers do - and IMHO - even if you grow small amount of AVs - it should be one of them. I.

Don't worry about the fact that some of your plants are not growing, they will grow when they are ready. You are not necessarily doing anything wrong and often times the plants are just waiting for the right time to grow. I have some cuttings that have done absolutely nothing in over a year. Sometimes you can recut the cutting and root it in the pot with the other piece and that will get things going but do it in the spring for best results. Many Hoya pubicalyx plants have dark maroon vines although fewer have this colouration in the new leaves. As for genetics a plant either has a certain gene or it doesn't, there is no turning on and off of genes the way you are thinking. Gene expression is of course different again because an organism can have a certain gene but not show it outwardly. I am not familiar with Hoya genetics but perhaps with an internet search you can find some info but it will only be on the horticulturally significant varieties, not much of this research going on just for curiosities sake. The word Chimera has been attached to this Hoya pubicalyx because of the unusual and unstable distribution of pigment in the flowers. All flowers on the plant can possibly show this effect but it is not predictable. If you notice that there is a pattern please let us know. The gene can of course also affect the new growth like you have been seeing and that explains why it is also showing up unpredictably. Mike