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tat3rka tat3rka
wrote...
14 years ago
What is so special about the curve you see on the
right that it is repeated in the head of a violin, the
sunflower, and the curvature of a Nautilus shell ?
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Donated
Valued Member
14 years ago
In the case of sunflower seed spirals (phyllotaxis), it was shown that the spirals form due to a self-organized growth process whereby new seeds are generated in the center at a fixed frequency and then repel each other by steric repulsion. The maximization of the distance between the seeds then leads to a special subtype of the logarithmic spiral pattern: the golden or Fibonacci spiral.

Phyllotaxis: describes position and spacing of the leaves of plants or in a more general way "the arrangement of some botanical structures (inner florets of a daisy, the scales of a pineapple,...) "

The same goes with the Nautilus shell.

Many plants show Fibonacci spirals, for example in the arrangement of leaves around a stem and of flowers in a flower head. The spiral arrangement represents a very efficient way of packing individual growing points (meristems) into the small area of the shoot apex. With regard to leaves, it also means that successive leaves do not hide the ones below to any great extent, thus allowing them to capture light more efficiently.
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