Sunflower seeds mean different things to different people — something to eat, something to plant or, if you're a mathematician, ... a Lucas sunflower or a sunflower with another pattern.

The researchers involved with the study were surprised to find that the optical rotatum grew in a pattern that is close to the Fibonacci sequence, a series of numbers where each number is the sum ...

Parthenogenesis occurred across multiple sunflower lines, with some producing over 100 haploid seeds per flower head. High-intensity light significantly increased haploid yield, while blue or red ...

Parthenogenic haploid seed germination, in vitro culture, chromosome doubling and the complete doubled haploid process. Credit: Nature (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08798-2.

The optical rotatum grows in a spiral shape that is also present in the shell of a nautilus (a type of mollusk), sunflower seeds, and branches of trees. “That was one of the unexpected highlights of ...