Nature · Study 027
Swaying Tree
A tree grown by a single recursive rule, split and shrink, sways in a gusting wind. Nine levels of branching make 512 twig tips.
What you're looking at
The trunk splits into two shorter branches at slightly different angles, each of those splits again, and so on for nine generations. The proportions come from a fixed hash, so the tree keeps its shape between frames while a noise driven wind bends every joint, more at the thin ends than at the base.
The idea behind it
Self similar branching is how real trees, lungs and river deltas pack a large surface into a small volume. Leonardo da Vinci noted that the cross sections of a tree's branches at any height roughly add up to the trunk, an observation still tested by botanists.
Try this
Move the pointer left or right to lean the wind. Restart grows a different tree.
