Garden-Variety Fractals

My Mom gave me some clippings of a Christmas Cactus (Chris, pictured at the right), and after taking a while to get accustomed to her new home, Chris is finally starting to grow.

The new leaves sprouting out, smaller but similar to the original, put me in mind of the Mandelbrot set.  The bulbs that “grow” out of the Mandelbrot set are perfectly similar to the original, and no matter how much you zoom in, you’ll always see the exact same sort of object.

I can’t say for sure if the leaves of the Christmas Cactus are infinitely self-similar, but it’s close enough for my eyes.