I was very excited by my germinating desert rose seedlings but when I saw this I was pretty confused.
At first, I thought it was the radicle that was pushing its way into the soil but when it kept getting bigger I realised it was the actual seedling. What I didn’t know was…. why was it white?
In all my studies, I had never come across albinism in plants. We were taught about variegated plants but I don’t remember hearing about albino plants anywhere before.
Now being as curious as I am, I did some digging and that’s when I found out that white desert rose seedlings were a thing. Apparently one in every hundred hand-pollinated seedlings are albino!
The thing with this white guy is he produces no chlorophyll which is bad bad bad for plants because they need chlorophyll to photosynthesize.
A Little Science
Chlorophyll is found in the chloroplasts of plants. Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue-violet light and reflects green light and this is why plants look green. When light is present, this chlorophyll converts carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen. The carbohydrates are used by the plant and the oxygen is released into the atmosphere.
Basically, this plant would not be able to produce its own food to stay alive and I am now tasked with finding a way to keep him alive.
Look out for the next post where I will update you on my findings. Hopefully, we will be able to save the little guy.
Wildlife, Nature and Me 
¿Qué pasó con los albinos por fin?
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Lo injerté en una planta sana pero murió
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We’re you able to save the albino seedlings? I just got a desert rose sprout and want to keep it aliveeeee please and ty
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Unfortunately it died
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