2000/01/01 by Shelley A. Etnier, Steven Vogel · 4 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · Mathematics · #Biology #Botanical Research and Applications #Botany #Composite material #Drag #Geometry #Horticulture #Isotropy #Materials science #Mathematics #Mechanics #Optics #Physics #Plant Diversity and Evolution #Reduction (mathematics) #Stiffness #Tree Root and Stability Studies
paper · doi:10.2307/2656682
openalex publication_date 2000/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25
Daffodil flowers extend laterally from the long axes of their stems; as a result, wind on a flower exerts torsional as well as flexural stress on the stem. Stems respond by twisting, and thus flowers reorient to face downwind in moderate winds, in the process reducing their drag by ∼30%. This repositioning is facilitated by the stems' relatively low torsional stiffness. Daffodil stems have a ratio of flexural to torsional stiffness of 13.27 ± 0.96 (SD), compared with 8.33 ± 3.20 (SD) for tulip stems, which bear flowers as symmetrical extensions of their long axes, and compared with 1.5 for isotropic, incompressible, circular cylinders.