Which plant can meet its water needs through its leaves in addition
to its roots?
How does the canary flower protect itself from the cold?
How do the plants survive draught?
Monteverde Cloud Forest
Our Lord created a perfect system to meet the water needs of the
plants. We all know that the plants absorb water from the soil
through its roots and sends this to its stem and leaves through its
xylem tubes. However, some plants are in higher altitudes,
practically living in the clouds, and therefore they have to use
their leaves to meet their water needs.
The rain forests in lower altitudes obtain their water needs from
daily rainfall. However, the trees living in the tropical climates,
the so-called clouds or the mist forests, use the moisture in the
air; in other words, the clouds, to meet their needs. This is
another perfect example of the sublime art of Creation by our Lord.
One of the most beautiful examples of such cloud forests are the
cloud forests of the Costa Rica mountains. In this forest, it is
usually foggy and humid, but despite that the soil itself is dry.
Therefore, the trees cannot get enough water from the soil.
However, the leaves in the clouds, which are always wet, easily get
the water they need. It is because our Lord created the leaves here
in such a special way so that they can easily absorb the moisture in
the air and take it to the branches and to the trunk. This special
system created by our Lord helps many other living things survive as
well. In this forest, at an altitude of 600 to 1800 meters, there
are more than 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120
reptilian and amphibian species, and thousands of species of
insects. Almighty Allah, the Lord of the worlds, with all these
details, showcases the evidence of His existence and His sublime
art of creation. Allah creates whenever He wills, and in a unique
way. He has no partners in creation. This is explained as follows in
the Qur'an:
That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of
everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything.
Eyesight cannot perceive Him but He perceives eyesight. He is the
All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. (Al-An'am 102-103)
Yareta
Yareta is a native plant of South America , occurring in the Puna
grasslands of the Andes in Peru , Bolivia , the north of Chile and
the west of Argentina at altitudes between 3,200 and 4,500 metres .
The most important thing about this flower, which is pollinated by
insects, is that they live for a very long time; there are some
specimens which are about 3,000 years old. They look like algea, but
when looked at more closely, one can see thousands of small flower
buds that stick together to look like one big pillow. It is also
known as the 'Andes pillow' and has flowers in different colors from
pink to lilac.
Pink Banana Plant
This banana species growing in North and East India, reaches a
height of 120 centimeters, and displays an amazing example of
Allah's beautiful color artistry. It has pink to orange flowers,
pinkish stalks and small, pink fruits. This plant can grow in
permeable, organically rich soils, in half shade. An interesting
thing about this plant is that it is highly resistant to cold. Even
if its body dries up due to excessive cold weather, its roots can
withstand up to -10 degrees celcius. Allah creates everything
flawlessly down to tiniest detail, and created this plant in such a
way that its every need is met. Allah has control over everything.
Allah knows about everything going on in the universe. Allah makes
that truth clear in the following verse:
"He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth...." (Surat As-Sajdah, 5)
There are some plants which manage to survive in very harsh
conditions, where human beings would never be able to do the same
in the absence of specialized tools. These plants not only
survive, they also have incredible measures to defend themselves
amazing the scientists and researchers alike. These miraculous
plants can survive despite the lack of warmth, water and minerals,
displaying yet another example of Almighty Allah's infinite wisdom
and creation art.
The drought-tolerant plants
Many plants in arid areas can store water. Each plant has different
techniques and places to store the water. These plants were created
in such a way that they can easily tolerate a lack of water. For
instance, The Pygmy cedar ( peucephyllum ) and the caper bush,
which can stay green even in the driest of conditions after
obtaining sufficient moisture during the night , are some of these
plants.
Many such trees and bushes have special leaves that can withstand
drought. For instance, some of them have needle or bouqet shaped
small leaves. This ensures that they have fewer surfaces that are
exposed to sunlight. Others have pores on only one part of their
leaves, mostly on the upper side. These pores ensure that water
loss is minimized due to evaporation when it is windy. Some leaves
have such pores on both sides; especially when it is foggy these
pores obtain moisture from the air.
The leaves of some plants such as Manzanita, are created so that they
stand upright. By the means of this special creation, the surface
is subjected to less sunlight and thus loses less water.
Paloverde , which has no leaves, photosynthesize with its body.
Having lots of leaves in a desert means more evaporation of water.
Therefore, Allah created all these plants with special features
that will make them resistant to harsh desert conditions. All
desert plants have special measures protecting them from high
temperatures. It is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, that gave all
these plants the abilities they have to survive in their
enviornments.
Canary plant
Canary plants ( senecio vulgaris ) live on the heights of the Kenya
Mountains in Equador and are striking plants with flamboyant
flowers. In this region, where there is usually a thin layer of
frost on the soil at night, the slopes can often be seen covered
with this plant.
The leaves of this plant have a special substance that prevents the
tissues from being hurt from frost; thanks to this protective
substance, the thin layer of frost melts under sunlight and then the
body gets back its old shape.
With the sunlight the frost covering the plant starts to melt and
water starts evaporating through the pores. However, the canary
plant has to pump water back to the now empty pores to prevent its
leaves from drying out. There is another danger looming; with the
weather getting colder, the water channels begin to slowly freeze .
However, the lowest circle of leaves surrounding the stalk of the
canary flower begins to dry out during a certain period of the year.
However, unlike other plants, the dry leaves do not fall off;
instead, they hold on. Thus, these dry leaves act like a thick
shield for the plant guarding it from the cold weather. With this
wise method, the canary plant prevents the channels inside from
freezing and manages to send the water to the rest of the plant.
It is impossible for a soil-bound plant to build such a protective
measure on its own and insert the relevant data in its genes so that
its offspring can have the same trait, too. Allah created these
plants with His infinite beauty and art of creation.
All these examples show that it is Almighty Allah, the lord of the
worlds, Who gives the plants the information they need, Who shapes
them, and gives them the traits they need to survive despite the
difficult conditions. This truth is explained in a verse as
follows:
"Your god is Allah alone, there is no god but Him. He encompasses
all things in His knowledge.' (Surah Ta Ha 98)
'' Our Lord ! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter and save us from the torment of the Fire '' [Ameen]
-
{in Arab} :->
Rabbanaa aatinaa fid-dunyaa hasanatan wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqinaa 'athaaban-naar/-
(Surah Al-Baqarah ,verse 201)
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