what is the purpose of the white spots of variegated leaves. Do they serve any real purpose to the plant?

Question

If so, can you please explain in detail as to what the purpose is. Any help would be very nice. Thanks

Do the white parts store the sugars produced in photosynthesis?

Answer 1

The non-green places are simply places that have no chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green pigment that helps the plant to turn light energy into food. While those places don't have chlorophyll, sometimes they do have other pigments that help the plant to capture light. If not, they still have cells in them that do all the other things that plant cells do.

Answer 2

Variegated plants are often chimeras consisting of two genetically different tissues in plant and the variegated part generally possesses a mutation that involves the loss of function of some part of the chlorophyll synthesis pathway. They do not generally occur naturally (though there are always exceptions). They are often propagated by asexual means as mentioned above merely for the aesthetic value.

Answer 3

No purpose, they are mostly just freaks of nature and variegation is usually NOT passed on to the offspring. Horticultural variegated plants have to be propagated by cuttings or grafting and, even then, branches can sometimes revert to the normal green form