Better known by his pen name, Fibonacci, he came up with a number ... The buds range up the stem in a spiral pattern, which kept each leaf out of the shadow of leaves just above it.

While the aesthetics and symmetry of Fibonacci spiral patterns has often attracted scientists, a mathematical or physical explanation for their common occurrence in nature is yet to be discovered.

They are extremely popular as forecasting tools, and they are often used in conjunction with other chart patterns. The chart below shows what a Fibonacci extension forecast looks like ...