That is, these phenomena may be an expression of nature's efficiency. The same conditions may also apply to the propagation of seeds or petals in flowers. Given his time frame and growth cycle, Fibonacci's sequence represented the most efficient rate of breeding that the rabbits could have if other conditions were ideal. Why are Fibonacci numbers in plant growth so common? One clue appears in Fibonacci's original ideas about the rate of increase in rabbit populations. The number of rows of the scales in the spirals that radiate upwards in opposite directions from the base in a pine cone are almost always the lower numbers in the Fibonacci sequence-3, 5, and 8. The corkscrew spirals of seeds that radiate outward from the center of a sunflower are most often 34 and 55 rows of seeds in opposite directions, or 55 and 89 rows of seeds in opposite directions, or even 89 and 144 rows of seeds in opposite directions. Similarly, the configurations of seeds in a giant sunflower and the configuration of rigid, spiny scales in pine cones also conform with the Fibonacci series. All of these numbers observed in the flower petals-3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89-appear in the Fibonacci series. There are exceptions and variations in these patterns, but they are comparatively few. Some flowers have 3 petals others have 5 petals still others have 8 petals and others have 13, 21, 34, 55, or 89 petals. For example, although there are thousands of kinds of flowers, there are relatively few consistent sets of numbers of petals on flowers.
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