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NEVER PROPAGATE CHIMERAS BY LEAF CUTTINGS - WHY? (for the same reasons - never use root cuttings) (Modified from: R.A.E. Tilney-Bassett. 1986. Plant Chimeras. Edward Arnold Ltd., Baltimore, MD)

VARIEGATED LEAF PATTERNS OF CHIMERAS The leaves below demonstrate two types of variegated Elaeagnus.  The cultivar on the left is a L-II chimera (i.e. GWG), and the cultivar on the right is a L-III chimera (i.e. GGW).  These are chimeras where the yellow or albino regions cannot make chlorophyll. A cross-section of the leaf shows the regions of albino cells in the mesophyll.  The different shades of green and yellow are determined by the depth of the cell layers.

ADVENTITIOUS SHOOT FORMATION ON LEAF CUTTINGS OF CHIMERAS If you take leaf cuttings from variegated plants, such as these variegated Peperomia (GWG), the plantlets that form are never true-to-type to the parent variegation.  The reason is simple.  The adventitious shoots that form will have the properties of the region of the leaf from which they regenerate.  The same would happen with a root cutting.  For this reason, chimeras are never propagated true-to-type by cutting types or methods that require adventitious shoot formation.