Phyllotaxis and patterns on plants

Paradigms <strong>and</strong> Mechanisms: connections?Paradigms are rules for the placement of the newest primordiumgiven the positions of all previous primordia.cf. packing efficiencyMechanisms involve instabilities of uniform states, the decompositionof the phase space into active A <strong>and</strong> passive P(A) modes, thecoordinatization of A with (amplitude) order parameters, <strong>and</strong> orderparameter equations which may be gradient flows with a free energy.cf. energy minimizationHow to connect these ideas?Alan C. Newell, Zhiying Sun, Patrick D. Shipman<strong>Phyllotaxis</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>patterns</strong> on plants