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I've seen this image show up on my dash a few times, with replies full of people losing their shit over it. And seriously, the idea of patenting (or even owning) plants enrages me as much as it enrages you. Probably more.
But here's the thing. This is nothing to do with GMOs or late stage capitalism. In the USA, this has been happening since the U.S. Plant Patent Act of 1930.
This is what American capitalism has always been.
The image is originally from Reddit, by the way:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anticonsumption/comments/an923y/houseplant_drm/
The part in the US plant patent law which really makes my sap boil is the fact that, in America, you can patent a plant which was "discovered in nature." Which appears to mean wild plants.
Though I suppose this isn't too surprising. People finding something which has always been there and deciding that they own it now is also what the US has always been.
Here's a link with a lot more of this depressing information:
https://www.upcounsel.com/plant-patent
There's a deep rabbit hole to fall down if you start reading up about plant patents, plant breeders' rights, plants as intellectual property, and so on.
It's all so very... ugh.