UCC student’s research overthrows long-held theory on leaf patterns

The arrangement of leaves into distinctive spirals, that are common in nature today, were not common in the most ancient land plants that first populated the earth’s surface, new research has suggested.

The research, which has been published in the journal Science, overturns a long held theory around a famous pattern in nature.

The study was led by University College Cork (UCC) palaeontology PhD student Holly-Anne Turner while an undergraduate student and research assistant at the University of Edinburgh.

The findings indicate that ancient plants had another type of spiral, which negates a long held theory about the evolution of plant leaf spirals.

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Spirals are common in nature and plants and most can be described by the famous mathematical series the Fibonacci sequence.

Sunflower heads, pinecones, pineapples and succulent houseplants all include distinctive spirals in their flower petals, leaves or seeds.

Why Fibonacci spirals are so common in plants has perplexed scientists for centuries, but their evolutionary origin has been largely overlooked.

It has long been assumed that Fibonacci spirals were an ancient feature that evolved in the earliest land plants.

However, the study has overthrown that theory with the discovery of non-Fibonacci spirals in a 407-million-year-old plant fossil, indicating they evolved down two separate evolutionary paths.

The study was carried out by an international team led by the University of Edinburg and researchers at University Münster, Germany, and Northern Rogue Studios, UK.

“The clubmoss Asteroxylon mackiei is one of the earliest examples of a plant with leaves in the fossil record,” said Ms Turner.

“Using these reconstructions we have been able to track individual spirals of leaves around the stems of these 407-million-year-old fossil plants. Our analysis of leaf arrangement in Asteroxylon shows that very early clubmosses developed non-Fibonacci spiral patterns.”

The team created the 3D model of Asteroxylon mackiei, which has been extinct for over 400 million years, by working with digital artist Matt Humpage, using digital rendering and 3D printing.

The research was funded by UK Research and Innovation, the Royal Society and the German Research Foundation.