A Dynamical Phyllotaxis Model to Determine Floral Organ Number
Fig 1
Schematic diagram for pentamerous flower development.
Sepal initiation (the first row), arrangement of sepal (black) and petal (white) whorls in blooming flower (the second row). Green circle represents a floral meristem (FM). Index numbers indicate the initiation order of five sepals. The radial position of the organs (the third row), namely the distance between the organ and floral apex, is spaced regularly in a spiral arrangement, whereas it has a gap between the fifth and sixth organs in the pentamerous pseudo-whorled and whorled arrangement. Regarding the hypothetical time evolution of the radial position (the fourth row), in all arrangements, the radial position increases with the progression of floral development. In the spiral arrangement, the radial position of the organ is always spaced regularly. In the pseudo-whorled and whorled arrangement subsequent to helical initiation, the radial position of organs within a whorl becomes closer during growth. In the whorled arrangement following simultaneous initiation, the radial position of the organs within a whorl is always identical.