Better known by his pen name, Fibonacci, he came up with a number sequence that keeps popping ... The buds range up the stem in a spiral pattern, which keep each leaf out of the shadow of leaves ...

While the aesthetics and symmetry of Fibonacci spiral patterns has often attracted scientists, a mathematical or physical explanation for their common occurrence in nature is yet to be discovered.

Fibonacci numbers and patterns don't just crop up in sunflowers. You'll also find them in cauliflower florets, echinacea petals, pine cone spirals, leaves on stems and many other places.

UrsaHoogle/iStock via Getty Images Many flowers have petals that add up to Fibonacci numbers, including buttercups ... where the seeds form an obvious spiral pattern. Look for it beyond flowers ...

In essence, when you shoot laser pulses following the Fibonacci numbers, they act as a sort of quasicrystal, the physicists say, a structure of matter that adheres to a pattern, but is not periodic.

Better known by his pen name, Fibonacci, he came up with a number sequence that keeps popping ... The buds range up the stem in a spiral pattern, which kept each leaf out of the shadow of leaves ...

A 13th century Italian mathematician named Leonardo of Pisa. Better known by his pen name, Fibonacci, he came up with a number sequence that keeps popping up throughout the plant kingdom ...