Fibonacci

The palm tree is one of my favourite examples of Fibonacci numbers at work in plants. The spiralling rows of fronds are very clear. If you walk around, you can count them. The picture on the left is a good example. On the right, you see how the fronds abutt each other. Notice how the rows going up to the right have a snug fit with the top-right side of one touching the bottom-left of the next. The rows going up to the left are different, they are offset. It is as if they are shifted several inches to the right each time. If both rows were snug fits, you would have a simple X pattern and the same number of rows going in each direction.

Take a good look and see if you spot this in other pictures of palms. If there are palms around where you live, walk around them and count the rows.