This Sparaxis looks like a beautiful example of a harmless transposable element affecting some key enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of the red pigmentation in the petals. As with most animals, active and inactive transposable elements can account for over half of some plant genomes. When they cause variegated flowers like in this Sparaxis, transposable elements are frequently mistaken for viral infections. Morning glories and petunias are classic examples. Nathan At 11:58 AM 6/12/2013, you wrote: >This was posted to whatisthisplant on Reddit, it is growing in the >Berkeley Hills area. I have never seen anything like it; could the >pattern be due to a virus? > >http://imgur.com/l4swDk7/ > >Chad Schroter >