The lesser fleas have lesser fleas.

"So nat'ralists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey,
And these have smaller fleas that bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."

* The Victorian era mathematician Augustus De Morgan expanded on this with a similar verse

"Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on,
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on."


Shortly after the Fractal Romanesco I was preparing some sprouts for the pot when I spotted a couple of wee sproutlets in the axils, I didn't have time, or a dissecting microscope to see how far the analogy progressed.