Why do some thorny plants resemble green zebras?
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Updated: Sep 20, 2026

A PCR-based Genotyping Method to Distinguish Between Wild-type and Ornamental Varieties of Imperata cylindrica
Published on: February 20, 2012
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Science Education, University of Haifa, Oranim, Tivon 36006, Israel. levyadun@research.haifa.ac.il
Abstract:
The rosette and cauline leaves of the highly thorny winter annual plant species of the Asteraceae in Israel (Silybum marianum) resemble green zebras. The widths of typical variegation bands were measured and found to be highly correlated with leaf length, length of the longest spines at leaf margins and the number of spines along leaf circumference. Thus, there is a significant correlation between the spinyness and strength of variegation. I propose that this is a special case of aposematic (warning) coloration.
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