This is not the first time I’ve been struck by the spiral, fractal nature of Romanesco broccoli, an edible flower in the broccoli family.  The flower’s form approximates a natural fractal because each flower is composed of a series of smaller flowers, each arranged in a logarithmic spiral. This pattern is replicated in smaller sizes at different levels on the flower.

The pattern is only an approximate fractal since the pattern eventually ends when the flower size becomes really small. I’ll bet you didn’t know that the number of spirals found on the head of Romanesco broccoli is always a Fibonacci number.

I enjoyed writing a chapter about spirals and fractals in Composition & Photography (see pages 109-135) with plenty of tips on how to approach these fascinating shapes along with visual examples.