An unusually shaped sunflower in the community garden at Saint Albert’s Historic River Lots and Grain Elevators has drawn widespread interest after site manager Christina Hardie posted a video of it on social media. The video received 18,000 views, far beyond what Hardie expected when she shared the bloom with coworkers.

Hardie, the heritage site’s program and site manager, said she had noticed the strange stalk for a couple of weeks before taking a closer look at the flower head. “I’ve been seeing this weird stalk for a couple of weeks, but then I got close to the flower head, and it has some wild stuff going on,” she said.

The sunflower has a long, thin stalk about as wide as Hardie’s hand, which twists into a multi-faceted flower head. Its unusual form is caused by fasciation, which Purdue Plant Doctor explains can result from a spontaneous mutation or trauma that disrupts a plant’s cells. That disruption can cause abnormal growth where it occurs, including oddly shaped stems or distorted flowers.

“We kind of got a double whammy with this sunflower. The stalk is super strange, and then this flower head is almost like a spiral,” Hardie said. The flower’s appearance reminded observers of the film *The Thing*, directed by John Carpenter.

Hardie said she posted the video largely as an informal message to colleagues. “It was almost me just sending a video to my coworkers of like, ‘Hey, look at this strange thing I found in our garden,” she said. “But it’s really resonating with people,” she added. “The plant nerds are coming out, which I am one as well. There’s been lots of interest and I’ve been shocked.”

Based on reporting by CTV News Edmonton.