I chose sunflowers because sunflowers are gorgeous and

famous for the way their massive golden heads stand out
against a bright blue sky. Of course, most of us like eating the
seeds they produce. Sunflowers are a mathematical marvel in
addition to being a gorgeous culinary treat. The spirals in the
center of sunflowers are produced by this process. The spiral
is formed by two series of curves running in opposing
directions from the center to the petals, with each seed sitting
at an angle to the adjoining seeds. Fibonacci numbers, in the
case of sunflowers, allow for the maximum number of seeds
on a seed head, allowing the bloom to maximize its area. As
the individual seeds expand, the center of the seed head can
add new seeds, pushing those on the perimeter outwards,
allowing the growth to continue endlessly. Fibonacci
numbers can also be found in a sunflower's spiral. Like the
sunflower head, the characteristic spiral serves a purpose. The
Fibonacci sequence unquestionably won. The number of
spirals in a single family on a seed head was found to be a
number from the Fibonacci sequence in 74% of the 768
families studied. When they examined pairs of spirals on a
seed head, one clockwise and one anticlockwise, they
discovered that 66.6% of them were a pair of Fibonacci
numbers. The configuration, dubbed the "golden spiral,"
enables the most compact confinement of the petals. If you
look closely at the center of a sunflower, you'll discover a
beautiful pattern of spirals among the numerous florets. The
golden angle is crucial in the formation of this particular seed
alignment. The golden angle is roughly 137.5°, and the
sunflower seeds are positioned in accordance with it
(Prusinkiewicz and Lindenmayer, 1990). There are further
spiral families that occur nearer the center of the seed head,
traveling in both directions, and counting them will most
likely show a smaller pair of the Fibonacci sequence. These
numerical patterns may look mystical at first, but they are
there for a reason. People have speculated that the Fibonacci
pattern was created to ensure that as the plant grows, as many
seeds as possible fit inside the seed head (for more
information, read this article). There are mathematical models
that simulate the growth process. If you run them through a
computer, you'll obtain an idealized representation of the
pattern you see in the sunflowers.This spiral tendency is
typical in plant development and is commonly seen in the
arrangement of flowers, leaves, and branches around a central
stem or trunk. However, these patterns have a practical utility
in addition to being visually appealing, and there is a simple
foundation underneath the dazzling intricacy. Looking down
on such a plant from above, you can see that the spiral layout
maximizes each leaf's exposure to the sun, limiting any
overshadowing of one leaf by another. Plants, too, aim to
maximize the number of seeds they can pack into a given
space in order to increase their chances of reproductive
success. What makes the narrative so intriguing is how these
patterns emerge.