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Mutabilis

/myoo-TAH-bih-lis/
🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate

Also known as: mutabile

An epithet indicating the plant is notably changeable — most commonly describing flowers that change color as they mature, aging from one hue to another on the same plant. Plants with this epithet often display multiple colors simultaneously, the oldest flowers being a different shade from the freshest. Appears as mutabilis (both genders).

Etymology

From Latin mutabilis, meaning "changeable" or "variable," from mutare (to change).

Example

Rosa 'Mutabilis' is the most celebrated example — its flowers open pale yellow, age through apricot-pink to deep crimson, so the same plant simultaneously carries blooms of three or four colors at once.

Example Plant

🌿Rosa odorata mutabilis