Only Art in a Flower
Intricacy and exquisiteness
We believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things — metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities.
Nature crafts flowers with purpose.
They are tempered with gorgeous patterns, colours, scents and shapes to help pollinators find them.
The ordinary wildflower and the magnificent rose both brim with ingenious form and function.
The scenery, when it is truly seen, reacts on the life of the seer. How to live. How to get the most of life…. How to extract its honey from the flower of the world.
When I look at flowers, I see an exquisite form of art.
It’s as if each step of conceptualization, design, and execution has been performed by one with a taste only for the finer things.
Nature appears to have the combined sensibilities of a happy, frisky child, and an old, cultivated eccentric.
The pattern in sunflowers is not only stunning, but is a testament to the mathematician that designed it.
In maths, Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where the sum of two consecutive numbers gives the next number. A typical sunflower head contains two types of spirals — 34 spirals in one direction (let’s say clockwise) and 55 in the counter-clockwise direction. 34 and 55 appear consecutively in the Fibonacci sequence. Some flower heads have even larger Fibonacci numbers, such as 89 and 144.
A mere coincidence?
For a growing sunflower, it’s beneficial to push out each new floret as far as possible from existing florets, so that each gets the most space to grow even within a limited scope. Studies show that under all viable growing conditions, each floret emerges at an angle of 137.5º from the preceding one.
In the world of mathematics, 137.5º is popularly known as the Golden Angle, having been derived from the Golden Ratio (or, Phi), which in turn is closely related to the Fibonacci sequence (any Fibonacci number divided by the preceding one yields Phi). The Golden Angle helps the sunflower florets grow optimally in the limited available space, and the relationship between this angle, the Golden Ratio and the Fibonnaci sequence makes the sunflower spirals appear in numbers straight out of the Fibonacci. [Ref: science.org, craftofcoding.wordpress.com, popularmechanics.com]
The art in a sunflower is painted with numbers.
Violas are one of my favourite winter annuals. I love their diverse colours and sweet, wild fragrance.
This year I invited many tiger eye violas to our garden. The design on their petals reminds me of chrysanthemums and Monarch butterflies.
Nature has taken more care than the fondest parent for the education and refinement of her children. Consider the silent influence which flowers exert, no less upon the ditcher in the meadow than the lady in the bower. When I walk in the woods, I am reminded that a wise purveyor has been there before me; my most delicate experience is typified there.
Hope you enjoyed this essay :)
Thanks for the inspiration Hermione Wilds Writes.
Some observers and thinkers sharing their fantastic views on Medium:
𝐆𝐫𝐫𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭, scientist & journalist exploring life’s basic instincts:
The humour you deserve to start your day with — Ken Martin on a guilt trip:
I’m yet to read all of Zuzanna Żak’s stories. Hooked.
