Comparison of the Bronchus to a Panicle

 

There is much reference to the anatomy of plants in the coded world of the Puranas. Whether it be utilizing the different patterns of branching like monopodial and dichotomous or whether it be comparing the respiratory bronchioles to rice panicles / crops, the metaphors of the Puranas make full use of the specialized knowledge of the outside world.

Some researchers have compared the bronchus to a panicle. 

“The arrangement observed in the divisions and subdivisions of the bronchial tube is that of a panicle. There is everywhere to be distinguished a straight diminishing tube, from which lesser tubes are given off alternately from its sides; these lesser tubes in their turn observe a similar plan of distribution, and the smaller tubes, down to their ultimate terminations, are governed by the same system. There is nowhere to be found either a true dichotomous or a trichotomous division.”