The Signs In Living Things (part 2)

THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK IN PLANTS

The ability to measure time may be thought to be limited to man. But both plants and animals possess a time-measuring mechanism, or "biological clock."

Plants, in their endless variety, have known what to do, and when to do it, for millions of years. They do this without forgetting and without error, thanks to the program hidden in their seeds.

Leaves fall from the trees at exactly the right time every autumn, and re-appear every spring. Every function performed by plants, from a seed falling to earth and sprouting to the water absorbed from the soil and distributed to the furthest tips of giant trees, takes place with impeccable timing.

Under natural conditions, plants select certain times for certain activities. They do this in line with certain changes in the sunlight. Because their internal clocks are tuned to sunlight, they complete their rhythmic activities in 24 hours. No matter how long the rhythmic motions last, there is one point that does not change: These activities occur to ensure the life of the plant and the survival of the generations, and they always take place at the most appropriate time. And in order for them to function properly, several complicated processes have to be completed in a flawless manner. For example, flowering is not an ordinary function that takes place of its own accord, because plants do not always give off pollen.

Moreover, in most plants flowers open at a particular time of year, because these times are the best suited to the flowering of the plant. Plants' clocks, which regulate this time, also calculate the duration of sunlight falling on the leaves. Every plant's biological clock calculates this period in accordance with the plant's particular features. No matter what the calculation, the flowers open at the most appropriate time.

One of the plants that sets its own timing in this way is the soybean. As a result of research into the regulation of time in the soybean, it was seen that, at whatever time these plants are sown, they open their flowers at the same time of year. The poppy disperses its pollen to coincide with the days and hours when pollinators are most prevalent. And these days and hours vary from plant to plant. But in the end, with this time regulation, every plant disperses its pollen in a manner guaranteed to give the best results.

Poppies, for example, disperse their pollen in July and August between 05:30 and 10:00 in the morning. That is the time when bees and other insects emerge to look for food. At this point the flower has to include in its calculation not just its own characteristics, but also those of other living things, down to the finest detail.

The plant must have accurate knowledge of the time when the creatures which will fertilize it emerge, the length of the journey they will undertake, and the times they feed. In such a situation the following question comes to mind:

Where in the plant is the clock that possesses all this "information," does all the necessary calculations, analyses the features of other creatures, and works in a way reminiscent of a computer center?

This clearly indicates a superior intelligence and power which establishes and controls the timing of all plants' different activities.

The biological clock in plants is just one of the countless miracles of creation.

“It is He Who sends down water from the sky. From it you drink and from it come the shrubs among which you graze your herds. And by it He makes crops grow for you and olives and dates and grapes and fruit of every kind. There is certainly a sign in that for people who reflect.”

(Surat an-Nahl, 10-11)

PS: this is a copy of Harun Yahya’s article (with the title: The Sign of Living Things), available on http://www.harunyahya.com/.