Phyllotaxis

Author

Eric W. Weisstein
September 2, 2026

This notebook downloaded from https://mathworld.wolfram.com/notebooks/PlaneCurves/Phyllotaxis.nb.

For more information, see Eric's MathWorld entry https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Phyllotaxis.html.

©2026 Wolfram Research, Inc. except for portions noted otherwise

Figure

A phyllotactic sunflower-head model with 550 florets placed at successive golden-angle positions.

Module[{angle, colors, count, points},
    count = 550;
    angle = Pi*(3 - Sqrt[5]);
    points = Table[
        Sqrt[n] {Cos[n angle], Sin[n angle]},
        {n, 0, count - 1}
    ];
    colors = Table[
        LightDarkSwitched[
            Blend[{RGBColor[0.35, 0.16, 0.05], RGBColor[0.95, 0.65, 0.08]}, Sqrt[n/(count - 1)]],
            Blend[{RGBColor[0.9, 0.45, 0.08], RGBColor[1, 0.85, 0.3]}, Sqrt[n/(count - 1)]]
        ],
        {n, 0, count - 1}
    ];
    Graphics[{
        EdgeForm[Directive[LightDarkSwitched[Black, White], Thin]],
        MapThread[{#2, Disk[#1, 0.43]} &, {points, colors}]
    }]
]