17 Captivating Fractals Found in Nature

fractals-in-nature

Fractals: they’re famously found in nature and artists have created some incredible renderings as well. Fractals are purely a wonder – too irregular for Euclidean geometry; iterative and recursive and seemingly infinite. They turn up in food and germs, plants and animals, mountains and water and sky. Here are seventeen stunning examples:

1. Sea shells

fractal-nautilus-shell

Images via Sustainable San Mateo and Designer

The nautilus is one of the most famous examples of a fractal in nature. The perfect pattern is called a Fibonacci spiral.

2. Snow flake

snowflakes

Images via Popular Science and Daily Dose of Imagery

3. Lightning

fractal-lightning

Images via howstuffworks, moonraker and Yale

Lightning’s terrifying power is both awesome and beautiful. The fractals created by lightning are fascinatingly arbitrary and irregular.

4. Romanescu

romanescu

Image via docman

A special type of broccoli, this cruciferous and tasty cousin of the cabbage is a particularly symmetrical fractal. Cook it for your favorite mathematician.

5. Fern

fractal-ferns

Images via red dirt road and travelblog

The fern is one of many flora that are fractal; it’s an especially good example.

6. Queen Anne’s Lace

queen-annes-lace

Image via Chrisjfry

The delicate Queen Anne’s Lace, which is really just wild carrot, is a beautiful example of a floral fractal. Each blossom produces smaller iterative blooms. This particular image was shot from underneath to demonstrate the fractal nature of the plant.

7. Broccoli

broccoli-fractal

Image via American Feast

Though not as famously geometric as its relative the Romanescu, broccoli is also a fractal.

8. Peacock

white-and-blue-peacock

Images via National Geographic and Neatorama

Males of both the white peacock and standard peacock variety are resplendent examples of fractals in the animal kingdom. Trivia: the white peacock is not an albino.

9. Pineapple

pineapple
The pineapple is an unusual fruit that is, in fact, a fractal. Though often associated with Hawaii the fruit is a native of southern Brazil.

10. Clouds

fractal-clouds1

Image via daily dose of imagery and Allan Ferguson

Look outside your window – you may see a fractal cloud at any moment.

11. Crystals

crystal-and-ice-fractals

Images via gdargaud, Indigo Society, ESRF and Designer

Both chemically-formed crystals and ice and frost crystals are breathtaking examples of fractals in nature.

12. Mountain ranges

mountain-range-fractal

Images via USGS, Clemson and Gemland

Both shorelines and mountain ranges are considered loosely fractal. These particular examples are beautiful.

13. Trees and Leaves

tree-leaf-fractals

Images via timalbertson, Yale, enchanter

From the macro view of a leaf to the span of a tree’s branches, fractals turn up frequently.

14. Shorelines

fractal-shoreline

Image via Today is a good day

This stunningly complex fractal shoreline is none other than the pan handle of Florida.

15. Rivers and fjords

rivers

Images via Today is a good day

From the midwest of the United States to the icy fjords of Norway, fractals are often viewed by airline passengers – these particular travelers were savvy enough to snap photographs.

16. Sea urchins and sea stars

sea-star-and-sea-urchin-fractal

Images via jurvetson and curious animals

Sea urchins are compact, almost artistic little creatures; sea stars are more commonly referred to as starfish.

17. Stalagmites and stalactites

stalagmite-fractals

Images via wikimedia, Yale and Good Earth Graphics

By now you know that stalagmites shoot up from the ground while stalactites form overhead.

Amazing fractal configurations all. The links at the beginning of this post are highly recommended as they are a great start to exploring even more wondrous natural and artificial fractals.