Plant Spirals: An Introduction to the Exhibit
 


 

 


Come and explore the world of Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Mean, spirals under the microscope, the universe of spiral lattices and more.

The exhibit presents the biology of plant spiral pattern formation and introduces a mathematical model that offers an explanation for the predominance of the Fibonacci numbers in these spirals.

 

10 Apex of Norway spruce (R. Rutishauser, U. Zurich)

Spiral lattice

When & Where

Movies of the exhibit
Virtual Tour of Exhibit
In this Bellis perennis, there are 21 spirals going in one direction and 34 in the other.
The spirals visible in plants usually come in two sets winding in opposite directions.The numbers of spirals are most often two consecutive Fibonacci numbers:
1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 . . .
Check the Phyllotaxis website at Smith College