haha, yes, sounds like a mutation, a 'normal' mutation. We have a clematis that does this kind of thing, with some petals deciding they prefer to be leaves and such things. I believe it's very common in Clematis. Never seen it in a water lilly Andy, but my guess is it's a mutation in only that flowerhead and when it dies the mutation will die with it. That's not to say it won't happen again!
That's fascinating. I can see how a retrovirus might introduce a mutation. DNA viruses splice themselves into the genome, like Human papaloma virus causing cervical cancer. They are finding more links between viruses and cancers in humans.
In QLD the native water lillies form little plantlets on the leaf/stalk join around the begining of summer. I always thought it was a reproductive mechanisim as the floods break off a lot of leaves and they float off to grow elsewhere.
