Syncarpha paniculata flowerheads getting on in life

Old flowerheads also tell stories. These Syncarpha paniculata bracts whitened from age are still in decent shape, angled up and out according to the row each is positioned in.

This creates a floral image although they are not the real flowers. The actual flowers, tiny disc florets positioned in a dense bunch in the centre of the circles of pointed bracts, have already departed from some flowerheads in the cluster.

In the ring of brown bracts on the left, the bare base of the flowerhead receptacle is showing. It is covered in arching rows of tiny holes where the floret bases had been attached before their exodus. The pattern of these holes is repeated directly or in similar, regular patterns in many living things that grow in nature, representing the way in which the numbers of parts increase in an elegant series as the body increases in size.

This mathematical series was discovered by the Italian, Fibonacci, many centuries ago. Go google the Fibonacci series for a fascinating story. A recognisable arty arrangement of floral, leafy or other body parts comes about by the regular progression of numbers of things following this series pattern.

At the top of the cluster, the fluffy floret tips of another flowerhead are still present in their inner ring of brown bracts, concealing the art of their arrangement. But maybe not for long, as the would-be tourists appear ready for departing on the adventure of their lives.