L-systems: from the Theory to Visual Models of Plants

In 1968, Aristid Lindenmayer introduced a formalism for simulating the development of multicellular organisms, subsequently named L-systems [18]. This formalism was closely related to abstract automata and formal languages, and attracted the immediate interest of theoretical computer scientists. The vigorous development of the mathematical theory of L-systems was followed by its applications to the modeling of plants. These applications gained momentum after 1984, when Smith introduced state-of-the art computer graphics techniques to visualize the structures and processes being modeled [52]. Smith also attracted attention to the phenomenon of data-base amplification, or the possibility of generating complex structures from compact data sets, which is inherent in L-systems and forms the cornerstone of L-system applications to image synthesis. Subsequent developments (presented here from our personal perspective, without covering the fast-growing array of contributions from many other researchers) included: