Have you ever stopped to observe the curious shape of a rose petal? The inhabitant part is curved, but ends with an unusual triangular turn to form a small tip: a study published on Science He discovered that behind this original form there is a mechanism never seen in nature, which arises from the need to fill a geometric frustration.
Exception to the rule. The starting point of the analysis was Gauss’s Theorem Egregium, which explains the morphogenesis of most leaves and petals, whose typical curved shape would be due to one contradiction that pushes them to bend and remain dishes at the same time. Rosa petals are an exception to this rule, since the edges they are not smooth or softly curled (like salad leaves), but characterized by cuspid.
A unique geometric principle. The formation of these characteristic tips is due to another geometric principle called incompatibility of Mainardi-Codazzi-Petterson (MCP)-already known but never seen in nature. Rosa petals grow in a simple, uniform and symmetrical way, but this apparently trivial growth causes MCP incompatibility which, generating internal tensions that focus on random points, gives life to the cuspid characteristics of the roses.
What is it for? The reason for this curious morphogenesis is not clear, but Lishuai Jin, mechanical engineer of the City University of Hong Kong, hypothesizes that it can be a way for the flowers of Attract a greater number of pollinatorscollect the dew better and improve the mechanical robustness of the flower.
