The Inflorescence of a Lily

Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan has solved another everyday secret: what makes the Asiatic lily bloom.

The Asiatic lily, <i>Lilium casablanca.</i>

How do the petals of the white Asiatic lily form and unfurl to become a flaring trumpet? This is the sort of question most people never even think to ask—and if they did ask, might quickly abandon as either insurmountably complex or too trivial to consider. But fundamental and easily overlooked questions fascinate Valpine professor of mathematics Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan. (See his "Applied Math" laboratory website, too.)

Working with Haiyi Liang, formerly a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and now a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, in Hefei, Mahadevan discovered that rapid growth in cells at the periphery of the petals leads to wrinkle-induced stress within the flower bud that forces it open and drives the subsequent development of the blossom. The discovery has connections to earlier work by Mahadevan on ruffles at the edges of kelp, and, by analogy, to crochet and to the way the brain folds during development, as described in "The Physics of the Familiar," a feature article about his work from Harvard Magazine's archives; see also the associated video of Mahadevan's discoveries.

As former SEAS dean Venkatesh Narayanamurti has said of him, “Maha is not only a tremendous applied mathematician, he truly is a kind of Renaissance thinker. Is he an applied mathematician? Is he an engineer? Is he a computational biologist? Or is he an applied physicist? He is all of the above.”

You might also like

This Astronomer is Sounding a Warning on 'Space Junk'

As debris accumulates in low Earth orbit, the danger of destructive collisions continues to rise.

When Code Meets Canvas

In brushstrokes and bytes, a symposium at Harvard explores data, perception, and art.

Isaac Kohlberg to Step Down as Head of Harvard Technology Development

Partnerships and licensing office could become more critical as funding cuts loom

Most popular

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

Making Art Work

David Andersson’s quest to reshape the public realm

In Federal Court, Harvard and the Government Have Friends

A look at the amicus curiae briefs in Harvard’s funding case

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvard Economist Nicole Maestas on Aging and Health Policy

The Harvard health economist not afraid to get in the weeds

Salsa Squared

Latin dancing fills the streets in Harvard Square   

A Justice’s Modest Counsel

Remembering David Souter ’61, LL.B. ’66