A Befuddling Bit of Botany

There’s a phenomenon underway in my yard, and I’m at a complete loss.
I’m no expert, but it appears for all the world as though there’s a mutation in progress. I’ve got no credentials, and limited experience on which to draw.
I figure my best bet is to lay the situation out right here in this forum and see what we can deduce.

It all started with some average tiger lilies, culled from a neighbor’s yard. If there’s a bulb or two dug up in an innocent roadside heist a decade back, I certainly can’t remember the details.

Here’s a representative shot of the perp:



There’s your basic profile of the flora which have grown on my property for enough years to have built a resume of consistency and regularity. Note the single tier consisting of six smooth petals.

With no new stimuli intentionally brought into the equation, here is what now grows, interspersed with the Regular Lilies:




What in the world??!! I count four tiers of ruffled, dare I say, iris-like petals? What is going on? Is anyone out there in possession of data by which we can explain and put to rest the confusion of the Mutant Lily?

A note about this week’s programming: I’m away right now, but it’s possible you won’t even miss me! Thanks to the magic of pre-posting, I’ll be here all week. I’m looking forward to coming home to all of your comments, and catching up on all of your blogs, too.