Horticulturalists stunned by multi-coloured chrysanthemum

A gardening enthusiast from Suffolk has caused a flurry of excitement after growing a multi-coloured chrysanthemum.

William Underwood, who is 73 and has been growing a variety of flowers in his Cavendish garden for many years, has left experts amazed after making public his rare flower.

His prized chrysanthemum has just one stem and one head, yet its pale pink and yellow petals are split precisely down the middle.

According to botanists, the unique colouring, which is the result of a cell mutation in the flower, is a 1,000-in-one occurrence.

"Bi-coloured flowers are an abnormality and while we take tens of thousands of calls here every year we don't hear of very many," James Armitage, a botanist from the Royal Horticultural Society, told the Daily Mail.

"The phenomenon probably occurs at a very early stage of the flower's development, probably when it consists of just two cells."

The species of Chrysanthemum are herbaceous perennial plants, which tend to grow to between 50cm and 150cm tall, with show flowers tending to be brighter than wild varieties.

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