T ree branches also tend toĮxhibit this pattern, either growing new branches or changing growth direction at Fibonacci ratios, and pine cones also favor this trait, though they do this through arc ratios as opposed to In plants like sunflowers and daisies, the seeds spiral away from the center and typically reach a We even see the sequence in the way that the seed buds grow in the head of the flower. We can find flowers with eight petals, such as the White Dryad, and daisies often grow thirteen Lilies have three petals, and buttercups possess five. Numerical sequence is seen in flower petals. He points out inaccuracies in some examples including the nautilus.144, 233, 377, 521, 898, 1,419, 2,317, et cetera. Vila does have a disclaimer about the nautilus in the film saying that it doesn’t exactly correspond, which found out about after he made the movie…(darn!) Who was Fibonacci? Fibonacci Flim-Flam – this somewhat fussy website cautions against the idea the there is mysticism or magic in Fibonacci’s numbers. The link goes to a slightly sleep inducing video, but it’s also an interesting phenomenon. Do you see design in nature? Notes:Īmazingly, the family trees of male honeybees have to do with the Fibonacci sequence. Recognizing organized shapes and patterns is an orderly, calming and beautiful way to perceive nature and I’m delighted when I can see them in my world. Sunflower seeds, beautiful patterns, but no time to count them…I’ll take your word… Plants don’t know any of this - they just grow in the most efficient way. Any advantage like this over the eons contributes to a plants survival. This creates enough space for each to develop, whether in the middle or on the edge. This works for, say, the sunflower, because of how it grows from the center of the seed head, each seed at a particular mathematical angle, pushing the outer seeds further out. The more seeds a plant has, the better the survival rate. The Fibonacci theory gives an explanation for why such designs exist, in other words, whatever is the reason for the designs and patterns to be there. It’s a joy to me that is deeply satisfying. I’m so fascinated in the patterns and designs in nature and many of my photos reflect that. Observing design in nature has been an influence on me when it comes to art, photography and the natural world. If you count the number of petals in this succulent, it will be a Fibonacci number Not all plants can be described this way, but isn’t it interesting and beautiful, these patterns? It’s amazing to me that mathematicians would be able to describe the appearance of the plants with this group of numbers. Should you count the number of spirals in the sunflower seedhead, you would find that they are two neighboring numbers in this sequence, most commonly 55 and 89. If you count, there are thirteen spirals going clockwise, and twenty-one counter-clockwise, 13 and 21, two numbers in the sequence. In a thistle head above, some spirals go clockwise, and some counter-clockwise.

These are the first few Fibonacci numbers most commonly found in flowers and many other things in nature. Numbers of seeds and petals appear in this sequence or in these particular numbers in many plants. It shows up in the number and positions of the petals, leaves, and seeds in plants.Įach number in the sequence is determined by adding two numbers together starting with 0: 0+1 = 1, 1+1 = 2, and so on. The thistle bud Town Mouse posted has a design that reminded me of the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, a mathematical theory that applies to, among other things, patterns in nature. California Thistle, Cirsium eriophorum, Wikipedia

Fibonacci sequence in nature sunflower