A 407-million-year-old plant’s leaves skipped the usual Fibonacci spirals
The ancient leaves were arranged in spiral patterns uncommon in modern land plants
Digital reconstructions (one shown) of Asteroxylon mackiei plants are providing new insights into the evolution of leaf patterns.
Matt Humpage, Northern Rogue Studios
An unusual arrangement of leaves in a 407-million-year-old fossilized plant is complicating scientists’ understanding of plant evolution.
Most land plants living today have spiral patterns involving the famous Fibonacci sequence of numbers. Because the spirals are so common, scientists have thought that the patterns must have evolved in some of the earliest land plants.