Learn something new all the time - Variegated and Chimeras

I was looking up growing Ivy last night and ran across the word "Variegated" in the context of describing types of Ivy. I initially assumed this was a typo of "variated" as in "colors may vary". But, my inquisitive mind decided it was worth googling. Wow, neato. Wikipedia says:

Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves, and sometimes the stems, of plants. This may be due to a number of causes. Some variegation is attractive and ornamental, and gardeners tend to preserve these.

One cause for this are "chimeras"

Chimeras (or "chimaeras") in botany are usually single organisms composed of two genetically different types of tissue. They occur in plants, on the same general basis as with animal chimeras. However, unlike animal chimeras, both types of tissues may have originated from the same zygote, and the difference is often due to mutation during ordinary cell division.

I just found this interesting. Especially, considering invasive species. If you look at the Liger (yes a real animal of lion/tiger mix), the male of one species and the female of the other has genetic size limits imposed. However, when you breed the others the limits do not get passed on and the resulting offspring can grow larger than either of the parents. I'm sure this practice has been in use for a long time, but it is hard to imagine the new invasive creations that exist. I suppose this is just part of evolution too. Think of all the new bacteria and viruses that are discovered all the time. Strain 121 is pretty interesting as well, even though it isn't a chimera.