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That's what I was wondering - if green tips are more likely to be purely genetic since they do seem to be an inheritable characteristic. Or whether they could also be caused by phytoplasma infections. If they are inherited from parent to seedling then it looks like genetics. But sometimes green tips and stripes are not inherited by the seedlings, and sometimes snowdrops will have green tips or stripes one year and not in other years. And what about the partial virescens of snowdrops which don't just have green tips but aren't totally virescent, with a number of green markings, like 'South Hayes' (which also tends to lose its green markings when twin scaled - which could indicate a phytoplasma infection which is 'cleaned up' by twin scaling). It might be difficult to establish a hard and fast rule that virescens may be due to phytoplasma but green tips are always genetic. It could be one cause in one snowdrop and the other cause in another snowdrop. Each case would have to be investigated individually.
Dimitri, thank you for all the links and your expert advice. I'm learning a lot here