shhhh, don’t tell that flower it’s a bunch gall

I love throwing my more unusual photos into Google image search just to see what I get. This is a goldenrod bunch gall. A little midge plants its larva in the stem of a growing goldenrod plant, and the resulting stunted growth creates this bunched leaf rosette. I stripped the leaves off the stem in order to isolate the bunch. Here is what Google AI thought this was:

“This appears to be a Rosa ‘Green Rose’ (Rosa chinensis ‘Viridiflora’), an antique rose variety known for its unique green, petal-less blooms.”

Of course, I had to look up Rosa chinensis ‘Viridiflora. And my goodness, it looks just like my bunch gall. It turns out the Green Rose is a phyllomorphy of the pink China Rosa. Phyllody is the abnormal development of floral parts into leafy structures. Phyllody, a new-to-me word. How about you? Ever heard of phyllomorphy?

goldenrod bunch gall (Rhopalomyia solidaginis)