Phyllotaxis is the study of patterns made by similar plant parts such as leaves, seeds, and scales. It was one of the first biological subjects to be mathematized (Jean, 2001). Phyllotaxis is derived from the Greek words phyllo "leaf" and taxis "arrangement" (Borror, 1988). Scales spiral forming helices around the stem of the cone. The spirals (curved lines) are formed by connecting neighbouring scales and are referred to as parastichies from the Greek para "beside" and stich "line" (Rutishauser & Peisl, 2001; Borror, 1988). The number of left and right spirals or parastichies are often consecutive terms in the Fibonacci sequence. Starting from the stem side and moving up this specimen has 13 spirals to the right and 21 spirals to the left.

The following images of the specimen above zoom in on the cover scales. The images were taken with a Canon PowerShot SD770 IS Digital ELPH 10.0 MEGA PIXELS, cropped and resized in Adobe Photoshop CS6. The images were taken in sunlight outside.

Borror, D.J. (1988). Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. California: Mayfield Publishing Company.

Jean, R.V. (2001). Phylotaxis. Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Phyllotaxis.aspx

Rutishauser, R. & Peisl, P. (2001). Phyllotaxy. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Nature Publishing Group/www.els.net