Page 39 - Photosynthesis: The Green Miracle

Harun Yahya

the plant by insulating the effect of sun on it and reducing evaporation.
The shiny wax reflects the majority of the light that falls on them; some
are covered with white hairs to reflect more solar rays. In addition to their
beauty, the features of cacti are also great miracles created to serve a vari-
ety of ends.
There is a plan, design and purpose in every component of a cactus,

from its thorns to the white hairs covering it—all important evidence that
cacti cannot have come into being by chance, but were designed by a su-
perior Intelligence.
Some species of cacti, especially the Window Leaves plant, bury their
entire bodies just beneath the ground, protruding only the tips of their
leaves above the surface. The tips of the leaves are transparent, yet further
down, the leaves contain green cells with chlorophyll. These cells, ar-
ranged in the form of long lines, capture the light entering from the leaf
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tips to perform the process of photosynthesis. As a result of their very
special design, the plant reduces water loss to a considerable extent and
hides from the blazing sun by remaining largely underground. It has no
difficulty surviving in an environment that many living things could not
endure for any length of time.
In addition to their many other attributes, desert plants have been
created to be exceedingly resistant to drought conditions. For example,
the American pygmy-cedar tree Peucephyllum and the plant Capparis spin-

osa, which can absorb a little moisture at night and remain green under
even the most arid conditions, are completely resistant to drought. Many
bushes and trees can also withstand drought, because their resistant
leaves possess a number of features. Some like the Paloverde, for exam-
ple, have very small leaves. Other leaves are needle- or bouquet-shaped;
thanks to their small size, a reduced surface area is exposed to the drying
rays of the Sun. 14
The leaves of some short-lived plants have pores on only one side,
usually their top. This design prevents water loss through evaporation,

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