Fractals in Nature

Hi all,

After a long break ... 

Now I have a bit about Fractals in nature. The 'ScienceToday' magazine had published articles on this subject.  Last day, when I saw the leaves of a Papaya tree, I was thrilled to note the fractal design. Here are those photographs, supplemented with a few more from the Web.

A quote from Wikipaedia : "Approximate fractals are easily found in nature. These objects display self-similar structure over an extended, but finite, scale range. Examples include clouds, snow flakes, crystals, mountain ranges, lightning, river networks, cauliflower or broccoli, and systems of blood vessels and pulmonary vessels. Coastlines may be loosely considered fractal in nature.
 Trees and ferns are fractal in nature. A branch from a tree or a frond from a fern is a miniature replica of the whole: not identical, but similar in nature."

See two pages (first two pics) of an article by K N Malathi, appeared in ST.