Gaultheria shallon - [Albino] Salal Although partial or full albinism is rare in plants, it does hap

Gaultheria shallon - [Albino] Salal

Although partial or full albinism is rare in plants, it does happen. Unlike albinism in humans, where melanin is being produced in small quantities or not at all, the condition results from a plant’s inability to produce chlorophyl. Because chlorophyl is necessary for plants to photosynthesize, most albino plants do not survive more than a couple of weeks unless they are budding from a parent plant, or have either a symbiotic or parasitic relationship with a fungus.