Scientists find clues to the formation of Fibonacci spirals in nature

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Conical shapes with irregularities produce parastichous spiral X patterns such as on the scientists microstructure at left and a strawberry at right. Credit: Li et al. 2007 Applied Physics Letters.
Conical shapes with irregularities produce parastichous spiral ‘X’ patterns, such as on the scientists’ microstructure at left, and a strawberry at right. Credit: Li, et al. ©2007 Applied Physics Letters.

While the aesthetics and symmetry of Fibonacci spiral patterns has often attracted scientists, a mathematical or physical explanation for their common occurrence in nature is yet to be discovered. Recently, scientists have successfully produced Fibonacci spiral patterns in the lab, and found that an elastically mismatched bi-layer structure may cause stress patterns that give rise to Fibonacci spirals. The discovery may explain the widespread existence of the pattern in plants.


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