Symmetry is usually defined as a sense of "balanced proportions" or "the quality of having parts that match each other," especially in an attractive way. And, when you think about it, it is all around us. Whether we look at human beings, architecture, art, or biology, there’s nothing more fascinating than seeing how the world is full of perfect forms and harmony.
So if you’re a true symmetry lover who loves flawless patterns and wants some order back in their lives, we've got you covered. Today, Bored Panda brings you a list of perfectly geometrical plants that reveal the true beauty of Mother Nature and let us appreciate how special it is.
From the most vivid colors to satisfying shapes, here are some eye-catching images for you to enjoy. Continue scrolling, upvote the ones that soothed your soul, and let us know what you think about them in the comments below! When you’re done with this list, don’t forget to check out Part 1 of this post right here.
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My Neighbor's Tree Has The Perfect Fall Gradient
Nature, This Is Some Nice Symmetry
The Symmetry On Aloe Polyphylla Is Crazy
To learn more about plants and why they grow in such a mesmerizing way, we reached out to Johan Gielis, a Belgian scientist, professor, and author of The Geometrical Beauty of Plants. He was kind enough to have a little chat and share some insights about the balance and harmony we see in the natural world. Gielis started by mentioning that there are several variants of symmetry, but the most common ones are radial and bilateral (mirror) symmetry.
The radial pattern consists of circular symmetry. When we look down from the top at such a plant, we can see that we could cut it equally from a central point, like you would cut a pie into the same-sized pieces.
The bilateral pattern means that the plant is equal on both sides if we cut it down the middle. In other words, it resembles a mirror effect. If you want to picture it, draw an imaginary line right down the middle of your face and follow it down your spine. You’ll see that your body looks just about the same on both sides, except for some minor scars, moles, and freckles.
Chemistree
And just when I thought I've had enough of benzene rings for this year!
The “Kalanchoe” Succulent Plant
The Night Sky Petunia. A Real Flower Whose Petals Resemble Galaxies
I had 2 pots of these a few summers ago. They're gorgeous! Just don't let them get full sun because the flowers will become all white. They need a good amount of shade to stay looking galactic.
Environmentalist and microbiologist Swanandee Nulkar wrote that flowers alter their appearance because of their need to attract pollinators. "Evolutionary biologists have observed that floral symmetries have changed over many generations from being radial or bilateral to even asymmetric," she wrote. "Scientists have also found that bilateral flowers facilitated pollinator landing."
Nulkar mentioned a study performed on bumblebees, where "the results showed that bees preferred these more symmetric flowers, owing to their greater nectar-producing capacity." It seems that insects prefer symmetry because of its appeal. "A diverse genome is nature’s most favored pick," she added.
The Symmetry Of This Flower
These Leaves In This Tree
Perfect Flower I Came Across While Hiking
Hala Fruit: The Fruit That Looks Like An Exploding Planet
When asked about why plants grow geometrically, Johan Gielis told us that there are both genetic and developmental components. He provided an example: "On the genetic side, one has Antirhinnum majus, which is the very standard flower for the common snapdragon. One variant—A. majus cycloidea—has a symmetrical flower."
He continued that during the evolution of the plant, deviations may also become prevalent. However, "one of the plant groups with almost no deviations during [their] development is the wonderful Asclepiad," otherwise known as milkweed.
Homegrown
A Flower I Found In Hawaii A Few Months Ago
This Absolutely Perfect Flower Is Right Around The Corner From My House
My Succulent's Offshoot
When you walk around in the natural world, you see patterns everywhere you look. It is often said that the Fibonacci sequence rules the growth of the plants and connects all living things. While it may sound confusing, the Fibonacci sequence is actually not that difficult to understand. It is a series of numbers where each one is the sum of the previous two. Starting from 0 and 1, the sequence looks like this: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and continues to infinity.
This Mushroom Photographed From Down Below
Underside Of Victoria Amazonica's Lilypad (Up To 200 Cm In Diameter) — Satisfying Ant Terrifying At The Same Time. Veiny Alien Plant-Flesh
Sunflowers Are Actually Made Up Hundreds Of Smaller Flowers In Near-Perfect Symmetry
This sequence is extremely persistent in nature and can be easily noticed in the placement of leaves along the stem, in pine cones, sunflowers, and pineapples. Plus, if you’ve ever heard of the Golden Ratio, it is tightly connected with this sequence. When thinking about the origins of this number, "Leonardo of Pisa [Fibonacci's full name] did not actually discover the sequence," Keith Devlin, a mathematician at Stanford University, said. "It's been around forever."
Nature’s Geometry
Found This "Veiled Lady" Mushroom On A Hike This Morning Near Seoul, South Korea
A Simple Plant With A Satisfying Shape
This Diseased Leaf That Looks Pixilated
"Fibonacci numbers are a very popular subject of research and recreation, and one can find innumerable articles in mathematics, science, architecture, and the arts," Johan Gielis told Bored Panda.
"Especially in the latter fields, they have achieved an almost divine status, because of the relation to the golden mean. From a scientific point of view, however, one needs to be very cautious in the application of the series to actual natural or cultural phenomena."
He continued: "For example, in the arrangement of leaves, the Fibonacci numbers relate the number of spirals going in one direction, to the number of spirals in the other. In a large-scale experiment of popular science, with over 600 sunflowers only 3 out of 4 of the parastichies on sunflowers were direct Fibonacci numbers. The other 1/4 were approximate or modified Fibonacci and Lucas numbers, derived series, or irregular."
The Patterns On This Palm Frond
It's Hard To Tell Where One Plant Ends And Another Begins. Crassula Capitella Is A Geometric Wonder
These Forget-Me-Not’s Grew In A Heart Shape
First Prize Winning Dahlia, Grown By My Dad
So it seems that nature and math go hand in hand. "As humans, we build models of nature, and our language is indeed mathematical," the professor said. "Mathematics is the ultimate human language," he added, saying that without humans, there would be no math.
When asked why we enjoy looking at geometrical and symmetrical plants and find them incredibly pleasing to the eye, Gielis told us that it’s because of our preference for symmetry. But it also has a cultural component: "Different cultures may have a different idea of beauty. What we learn is what we will prefer later," he concluded.
This Swirly Dandelion I Found
The Inside Of My Purple Cabbage
Anyone Else In Love With This Flower Or Is It Just Me?
Flower I Found This Morning
So while we try to grasp how such incredible patterns in nature are formed, we can also take our time to appreciate the many wonders it can offer. Whether flowers are symmetrical or not, they are still mesmerizing to look at. So we hope that with posts like these, you will be reminded of how beautiful nature really is.
The Inside Structure Of This Plant
This Perfect Cluster Of Apples
This Nearly Perfect Dahlia I Spotted At A Local Park
Loving My New Fractal Pups
The Rare Purple Cauliflower. Its Signature Color Comes From The Same Antioxidant Found In Red Cabbage And Red Wine: Anthocyanin
The Perfect Symmetry Of This Plant
These Flowers Arrange Themselves In A Grid
Found That In My Garden - I Think It's Pretty
The Lines And Symmetry Of This Plant Is Just Mesmerizing
Lapidaria Margaretae, Looks Trippy, We're Gonna Collect All The Geometric Looking Succulents Now
How Round This Plant Is
Unedited Flower In My Front Garden
The Petals Of This Camellia Flower
This Symmetrical Leaf On My Philodendron
Geometry In Nature
This Disco-Ball-Looking Flower In Australia
Top View Of This Plant Is A Perfect Star Shape
Asiatic Lily And It’s Spectacular Radial Symmetry
Anyone Else Finding It Satisfying When Plants Pop Symmetrical Patterns? Monstera Producing Only Half Moons Left-Right-Left-Right. My Ocd Is Screaming From Joy
Astrophytum Is My Love. I Collect Them
Geometric Products Of The Mayan Jungles
Red Corn From Georgia
The Way My Flower's Petals Curled Horizontally
Beautiful Drawing Inside A Zucchini
This kind of symmetry has always caught the eyes of Christians. It looks like the Cross is written into nature.
My Dahlia Won First Place At The Fair
To The Untrained Eye, Plants May Appear To Grow Rather Impulsively, Popping Out Leaves At Random To Create One Big Green Jumble
Nature is so beautiful.. We live such busy lives that we overlook and don't appreciate the beauty that surrounds us.. Love all these photographs. :)
This Flower With Near-Perfect Yellow Circle And White, Daisy Fringe
The Symmetry Of The Leaves On This Plant
This Plant I Saw On A Nature Walk Looks 3D-Ish
My Boyfriend's Beautiful Memorial Succulent From His Mother That Passed Away. It Was Way Smaller And Grew Very Symmetrical Over 6 Weeks
Roots Of This Plant I Repotted
This Plant That Has Exactly Two Branches At Each Node
Can We All Appreciate The Beauty And Symmetry Of This Flapjack Succulent?
Had This Plant For 5 Years Before It Bloomed This Single Bulb Of Little Fondant Flowers
This Flower In My Garden
A Bug Ate This Leaf In Quadrilaterals
Nature's Textiles
Weird Geometric Fungus
The Symmetry & Color Of My Tulips
My Passionflower Is Geometrically Pleasing
Ooh, these are one of the things I miss the most about Florida. That and all of the beautiful hibiscus. But there's nothing that looks like a passion flower 🥰
This Dying Leaf Looks Like It's Pixelating
This Spiral Blossom's Symmetry
The Gradient On My Cherry Tomato Plant
Here’s Another Flower
Pinguicula Ehlersiae
This Cube Of Tomato Roots
It's kind of what you'd expect from growing it in a cube-shaped pot.
The Perfection Of This Cactus
I Think Symmetry Of These Flowers Are Pretty Cool
Never Realized Before How Beautiful Are The Cypress' "Interior" Leaves
Simple beauty all around us; when we actually get time to stop an look.
This Perfectly Symmetrical Sempervivum
This Plant I Saw
I Can't Get Over This Leaf Structure On My Bird Of Paradise
Saw This Very Symmetrical Plant On My Hike
I Took A Picture Of A Perfectly Symmetrical Aloe Plant
Euphorbia Canariensis, Dark Hue
This Flower Has Different Color Petals. They Naturally Arrange To Form A Ringed Effect
This Half Red, Half Yellow Rose
The Clover Leaves Make A Perfect Triangle
The Symmetry Of This Flower
A Pentagon Shape Flower I Found In My Backyard
Symmetric Perfection
The Symmetry And Lighting Of This Marijuana Leaf
The Patterns Of Indian Jasmine Blooms
"Crassula" Succulent
The Color Transition And Symmetry Of This Perfect Winter Flower
Such Aesthetically Pleasing Growth From My Echeveria Today
The Near-Perfect Symmetry Of This Pepper
Something About This Leaf
I Found These Wild Doritos Plants
Radial Symmetry Exhibited By My Trichocereus Cacti
Beautiful Symmetry Of Gendaphool
My Plant Is Growing Perfectly Symmetrically
Just A Picture I Took While Walking The Dog, The Flower Is Called A Passion Flower
The Symmetry Of This Flower's Petals
The Symmetry Of This Weed
Nearly Perfect Flower That I Found On A Walk
This Flower I Saw On My Walk
Obesa's Natural Symmetry
The Symmetry Just Blows Me Away And I Love The Spines In Each Leaf. Definitely My Most Treasured Succulent
Name: Orostachys Spinosa. Beautiful Picture
Symmetry Of Nature
Spiral Of Life
This Plant In My Friend's Farm
Cornflower Symmetry
Basil Grows Quite Symmetrically
It’s The Symmetry For Me
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means
The Symmetry Of This Honeydew Melon’s Inside
The Symmetry On My Succulent Crassula "Buddha's Temple", Also A Low-Key Demogorgon
The Symmetry Of This Watermelon
"Geometry In Nature". Botanical Garden In Madrid
I saw one of these in the Jacksonville Florida zoo and just loved it. Looks so cool irl
Itap Of This Incredible 3 Way Symmetrical Plant I Found Hiking In Vt
Symmetry
A Bug Ate Through This Morning Glory While It Was Closed, And The Holes On The Bloom Are Nearly Symmetrical
“Symmetry Represents Order, And We Crave Order In This Strange Universe We Find Ourselves In“ - Alan Lightman
Tibouchina Heteromalla (Silver-Leafed Princess Flower)
The Transparency Of A Zucchini Slice
This Symmetrical Tomato Stem
Like The Symmetry In This
I recently discovered the romanesco broccoli. Very, very hard to find in stores but so delicious! It tastes like a broccoli crossed with artichoke. 3977227067...yy6n5a.jpg
I've had one of those, spent too long admiring it so it was a bit past its best when time to eat.
Load More Replies...if youre interested check out Benoit Mandlebrot, he was a scientist who discovered fractal geometry in plants
Love a good fractal set, i've played around with a good few Mandlebrot generators in my time. DragonEmer...edd2c4.jpg
Load More Replies...I recently discovered the romanesco broccoli. Very, very hard to find in stores but so delicious! It tastes like a broccoli crossed with artichoke. 3977227067...yy6n5a.jpg
I've had one of those, spent too long admiring it so it was a bit past its best when time to eat.
Load More Replies...if youre interested check out Benoit Mandlebrot, he was a scientist who discovered fractal geometry in plants
Love a good fractal set, i've played around with a good few Mandlebrot generators in my time. DragonEmer...edd2c4.jpg
Load More Replies...