Biomechanics of Bark Patterning in Grasstree
Holly Dale1,
Adam Runions2,
David Hobill1,
and Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz2
1 Department of Physics and
2 Department of Computer Science,
University of Calgary
Highlights
Bark patterns are a visually important characteristic of trees,
attributed to fractures caused by secondary growth of the trunk and
branches. A detailed understanding of bark patterns has been impeded
by insufficient information regarding biomechanical properties of bark
and the corresponding difficulties in faithfully modeling bark
fractures using continuum mechanics. Here we focus on grasstrees,
which have an unusual bark-like structure composed of distinct leaf
bases connected by sticky resin. Due to its discrete character, this
structure is exceptionally well suited for computational studies. We
created a dynamic grasstree model, which captures both the
phyllotactic patterning of the leaf bases during primary growth and
the emergence of fractures due to secondary growth. The model
reproduces key features of grasstree bark patterns, including
inhomogeneities due to compression of leaf bases at the sites of
inflorescences.
Reference
Holly Dale, Adam Runions, David Hobill, and Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz.
Biomechanics of bark patterning in grasstree.
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on
Functional-Structural Plant Models (FSPM 2013), pp. 4-6.
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