Flower color in this species can be difficult to understand, with red, pink, yellow, or white blossoms sometimes occurring on the same plant, or changing colors from one generation to the next. In ‘Broken Colors,’ all of these colors can occur within the same flower, which is not explainable by Mendelian genetics. This an example of the effects of “jumping genes” on plant pigmentation, the very same effects seen in the swirling, speckled, or splotched color patterns of some indigenous maize. Jumping genes (or transposons) move within the DNA of plants, changing genetic expression of tissues as they form and grow. All parts of the plant are poisonous.

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