Roses, fruit trees, etc. are the latter.
All that being said, I am still quite happy with them! They take effort to be observed, but that effort is rewarding since it is such a unique experience. It’s really neat to see a stem glowing one night, which indicates that the next night there will be a new bright flower bud. Also I get a huge kick out of doing everything I can to propagate them, since it is stupidly illegal to do so.
Edit: for something comparable that you are familiar with, I would say it would take 6-8 plants at the size they arrive at to make the equivalent amount of light as a single small tea candle.
The photos on the site are definitely long exposure, but I'm pretty pleasantly surprised in person.
Glow in the dark petunias sound really cool, I want those.
It's possible my glowing petunia has some sort of advantage - the energy use going into the light might be balanced by attracting bugs at night, perhaps - but its seeds won't ever have the adaptation.
The purple tomato, on the other hand, if more attractive to birds who might eat and spread its seeds, might have more likelihood to spread.
Same goes with the bacteria, except you may be talking about days or weeks instead of years.
Yes, mutations will creep in, but the gene will persist more based on a) can it be passed down to seeds and b) does it infer an advantage in natural selection?
Maybe it's a different question. Does the flavour seem mostly the same? A drop in for recipes?
Mine aren't mature yet, but the flavor is apparently just a pretty typical cherry tomato.
The petunias came grown in a pot.
