Page 35 - Photosynthesis: The Green Miracle

Harun Yahya

ing so, what gives them the most suitable structure and shape for the en-
vironment in which they find themselves? Evolutionists, who maintain
that all living structures came into being by coincidence, claim that desert
plants that imitate the rocks also came by this characteristic by chance.
These claims are wholly illogical. Can any random event endow a plant

with such a flawless imitative ability and the ability to store the water it
most needs in desert conditions? It is clear that Allah has created these
plants together with these attributes, with His most sublime knowledge
and intellect.

Water Storage in Leaves

The leaves of desert plants designed to store water and foodstuffs
may be cylindrical, as in the genus of stonecrops known as Sedum, or else

have a prismatic shape as in the ice plant (Carpobrotus). Due to their wa-
ter- storing properties, these plants that live in arid regions have a very
fresh appearance. Water is stored inside the stems or leaves in broad, thin-
walled cells. These leaves’ thick upper layer prevents water loss.
Another feature of desert plants’ flawless design is their spherical
shapes. Because since it possesses the smallest surface area, the sphere is
the most efficient volume for storing water. Desert plants’ thick stems,
spherical shapes and pores that are closed during the day and open at
night comprise a structure that reduces water loss due to evaporation. 12

Many plants store water in different places. For example, the
Century plant stores it in its thick, fleshy leaves; the Cereus plant that
opens at night in its underground bulb; and the cacti in their rounded
stems. Plants such as the agave hold their grooved leaves open so as to
catch the very infrequent rains that fall. In contrast, the leaves of plants
such as Sarracenia minor that live in rainy areas, are like umbrellas, pro-
tecting the plants from excessive rain. Every plant has features appropri-

ate to the conditions it lives in—a sign of Allah’s flawless creation.

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