Like people, trees and plants can be born with mutations that alter their appearance and functions. The Ornäsbjork is a prime example of such a mutation: a normal silver birch that has rather unique pointy leaves. This birch was discovered by Hans Gustaf Hiordt, Dalarnas County secretary in 1767. Understanding the magnitude of what he had found, he transferred the tree to his land and notified biologists. Carl Linnaeus, the famed Swedish botanist and zoologist who devised the system of binomial nomenclature, got fascinated by the tree and came to describe it. He…
