The Botanical Spiral

Climbing onto the weathered cedar slats of the garden potting bench, I discovered a broad, dried sunflower head resting beside an old metal trowel. Its entire face was packed with plump, striped seeds curving outward in neat intersecting spirals. Curious about the mathematics behind the arrangement, I crouched down on my bare feet and pressed my palm against the bristly surface. The seeds were anchored firmly, but with a careful pry using the flat corner of a wooden plant marker, one dark seed popped cleanly free into my hand. It left behind a neat, empty hexagonal socket. In my opinion, plant geometry solves spatial packing far better than any human blueprint.