L-Systems

There are a number of different ways in which one can produce a model of a tree, and we have explored many of these as a group. One particularly interesting class of “tree model” is the mathematical model. Within this class, there exists a substantial variety of approaches, but the idea, in general, is to replicate tree morphology with an algorithm. I chose to begin my exploration of mathematical trees via L-Systems (named after biologist Aristid Lindenmayer who first proposed them).

L-Systems are a type of recursive string-rewriting system that are capable of, among other things, drawing 2- and 3-D branching patterns. You can read all about them here. Even while remaining totally deterministic, i.e. without introducing probability or randomness, they are capable of producing some pretty convincing plants:

More to come.