Anthony Jenkins, who lives in Weston under Penyard, came across a fruity phenomenon in his garden recently. Among all kinds of fruits, vegetables and flowers that he grows, and hidden in over 100 other strawberry plants in his garden, one strawberry has bright green leaves growing out of it.

The green shoots, which almost appear to be green hairs from a distance, have sprouted as a result of a rare occurrence called vivipary. While this is a normal process for some plants, it is not a naturally occurring process in strawberries.

Vivipary is the condition whereby the embryo, which is the young plant within the seed, grows first to break through the seed coat then out of the fruit wall while still attached to the parent plant.See this week’s paper for more stories like this, available in shops and as a Digital Edition now.