Editing Golden angle (section)

== Golden angle in nature ==
[[File:phyllotaxis_golden_angle.svg|thumb|upright|The angle between successive florets in some flowers is the golden angle.]]
[[File:Sunflower seed pattern animation.gif|thumb|upright|Animation simulating the spawning of sunflower seeds from a central meristem where the next seed is oriented one golden angle away from the previous seed.]]
The golden angle plays a significant role in the theory of [[phyllotaxis]]; for example, the golden angle is the angle separating the [[floret]]s on a [[sunflower]].<ref>{{cite web
| url        = https://news.mit.edu/2012/sunflower-concentrated-solar-0111
| title      = Here comes the sun
| author     = Jennifer Chu
| work       = MIT News
| date       = 2011-01-12
| access-date = 2016-04-22
}}</ref> Analysis of the pattern shows that it is highly sensitive to the angle separating the individual [[primordia]], with the [[Fibonacci]] angle giving the [[parastichy]] with optimal packing density.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ridley|first=J.N.|date=February 1982|title=Packing efficiency in sunflower heads|journal=Mathematical Biosciences|language=en|volume=58|issue=1|pages=129–139|doi=10.1016/0025-5564(82)90056-6}}</ref>

Mathematical modelling of a plausible physical mechanism for floret development has shown the pattern arising spontaneously from the solution of a nonlinear partial differential equation on a plane.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pennybacker|first1=Matthew|last2=Newell|first2=Alan C.|date=2013-06-13|title=Phyllotaxis, Pushed Pattern-Forming Fronts, and Optimal Packing|url=https://www.math.arizona.edu/~anewell/publications/196newell.pdf|journal=Physical Review Letters|language=en|volume=110|issue=24|pages=248104|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.248104|pmid=25165965|arxiv=1301.4190 |bibcode=2013PhRvL.110x8104P |issn=0031-9007|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sunflowers and Fibonacci: Models of Efficiency|url=https://thatsmaths.com/2014/06/05/sunflowers-and-fibonacci-models-of-efficiency/|date=2014-06-05|website=ThatsMaths|language=en|access-date=2020-05-23}}</ref>