Acacia (wattle) and Cananga (ylang-ylang): from spiral to whorled and irregular (chaotic) phyllotactic patterns - a pictorial report

Phyllotaxis, i.e., the arrangement of leaves around the stem and leaf-like organs inside flowers is regular in most vascular plants. Thus, developmental models usually explain regular phyllotactic patterns such as Fibonacci spirals and decussate/whorled patterns that obey Hofmeister’s rule: primordia form as far away as possible from previously initiated primordia. However, flowering plants showing at first Fibonacci spirals or whorled phyllotaxes may switch to other patterns that lack an obvious order and thus may be called irregular or even chaotic. Vegetative shoot tips of various Australian wattles (Acacia spp., Leguminosae in eudicots) and flower buds of ylang-ylang (Cananga odorata) and other Annonaceae (basal angiosperms) provide examples of irregular patterning. This pictorial report provides food for thought for scientists interested in phyllotaxis patterns beyond the usual spiral and whorled patterns. Emphasis is given on irregular phyllotaxes that occur in wild-type plants, mainly correlated with geometrical parameters such as leaf and stamen primordia that are very small as compared to the size of their apical meristems. They call for additional explanatory models, combining auxin-driven development with geometrical constraints and biophysical processes.