The Pollination and Reproduction of Underwater Plants

Contrary to popular belief, reproduction by means of pollen is not limited to land plants. There are sea plants, too, which reproduce by this method. The first plant living in the open sea and reproducing by the pollination method, called "Zostera," was discovered in 1787 by the Italian botanist Filippo Cavolini.15 The reason for the belief that pollination is restricted to land plants was that the grains of land plant pollens that made contact with water split and ceased to function. Studies carried out on plants which reproduce by pollination in water, show that this is another subject on which the theory of evolution finds itself in a quandary. Plants which disperse their pollen by water are found in 31 genera in 11 different families, and in very different places, from northern Sweden to southern Argentina, from 40 metres below sea level to 4,800 metres high in Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains. From the ecological point of view, they live under very different conditions, from tropical rain forests to seasonal desert pools.16 The evolutionists' difficulties on this subject stem from the theory of evolution itself. Because, according to this theory, pollination was a method of reproduction which began to be used by plants after they started to live on land. Yet, it is known that there are some sea plants which use this method. For this reason evolutionists have named these plants "flowering plants which have gone back to the water." And yet the evolutionists have been unable to give any logical and scientific explanation of either when the plants went back to the water, the reasons which made them do so, how they went back to the water, or what shape the intermediate forms took. Another problem for evolutionists arises from certain properties of water. As we revealed earlier, water is not at all a suitable environment for pollen to spread in, and generally leads to splitting in individual seeds. It is also difficult to make predictions about the movement of the water. There may be quite irregular currents in water, tides may suddenly sink plants, or carry them considerable distances on the surface. Notwithstanding these factors, aquatic plants use the water they grow in as a pollinator with great success, having been created in such a way as to be able to operate from below the surface. Here are some examples of these plants: Vallisneria Vallisneria plants make use of water to transport their pollen. The plants' flowers' knowing when and where to open, and such details as the pollen being composed of water resistant structures, show that the plants and these processes were specially created. Male Vallisneria flowers develop in that part of the plant which remains under water. Then, in order to reach plants with female characteristics, they leave the main body and float free. The flower is created to rise easily to the surface once it is free. At this point the flower looks like a globular bud. Its leaves have closed over it and wrapped up the flower like the peel of an orange. This particular structural form provides protection from the negative effects of the water for that part which carries the pollen. When the flowers rise to the surface, the petals, which were formerly closed, separate from one another and curl back, spreading over the surface of the water. The organs which carry the pollen emerge above the leaves. These function like miniature sails, able to move in even the slightest breeze. They also keep the Vallisneria's pollen above the surface of the water. As for the flowers of the female plant, they float on the water, on the end of a long stalk rooted in the lake or pond bed. The leaves of the female flower open on the surface, forming a slight depression. This depression serves to create a gravitational pull on the male plant when it approaches the female plant. In fact, as the male flower passes by the female it is drawn towards it and the two flowers meet. In this way the pollen reaches the female flower's reproductive organ and pollination takes place.17 The male flower's protecting the pollen while it is closed in the water, its rising up and opening on the surface, and its adopting a form enabling it to move comfortably on the water are details requiring especial consideration. These features of the flower resemble those of the lifeboats used on seacraft, which open automatically on being thrown into the sea. These boats emerged as the result of long joint studies by the designers of many industrial products. The planning faults which emerged when the boats were first produced, and again the flaws which emerged when trials were carried out on the boat, were taken in hand again, the faults were put right, and as a result of repeated tests a properly functioning system was arrived at. Let us consider these studies in the context of the Vallisneria's position: Unlike the designers of the lifeboat, the Vallisneria did not have more than one chance. The first Vallisneria in the world had only one chance. Only the use of a system which was completely successful from the first test would ensure the chance of survival for later generations. A faulty system would not pollinate the female flower, and the plant would disappear from the world, as it would never be able to multiply. As we have seen, it is impossible for the Vallisneria's pollination strategy to have come about in stages. Ab initio, this plant was created with a structure enabling it to send out its pollen in water. Halodule Using the tide of the waves, and thanks to its long, noodlelike pollens, Halodule always succeeds in sending its pollen to female plants. Another water plant which possesses an effective pollination strategy is the Halodule, which grows along sandy coasts in the Fiji Islands. This plant's floating long, noodlelike pollens sway from under the water to the surface. This design enables the Halodule to hit even more marks than the Vallisneria. Furthermore, the pollen noodles have coatings of proteins and carbohydrates that make them sticky. They adhere to one another on the surface of the water and form long rafts. Millions of floral search vehicles of this type are carried along as the tide returns to the shallow pools where the female plants float. With the collision of these search vehicles with the female plant's reproductive organs on the water's surface, pollination takes place easily and successfully.18 Thalassia So far we have discussed plants, whose pollen is transported above or on the surface of the water. In this case the movement of the pollen is two-dimensional. Some species have pollination systems that operate in three dimensions - that is, below the surface. Unlike other water plants, the Thalassia spends all its life under water. Despite this, it manages to send its pollen to the female plant through the water. As can be seen above, Thalassia sends pollens under water embedded in elongated strands. This special construction was designed so that Thalassia could live under water. Underwater pollination strategies are harder to implement than above-surface ones. Because in three-dimensional pollination, the results of even the slightest change in the movement of the pollen will have far-reaching effects. For this reason, it is much harder for the pollen to connect with the female organ under water than it is on the surface. Nevertheless, Thalassia, a Caribbean plant, always lives under water, because it has been created with a pollination strategy to make the seemingly difficult conditions for pollination easier. Thalassia releases its round pollen under water, embedded in elongated strands. They are carried along by the waves, then stick to female flowers' reproductive organs and thus enable the plant to multiply.19 The pollen of the Thalassia and the Halodule being sent out embedded in strands increases the distance the search vehicles go. There is no doubt that this intelligent design is the work of God, who created both water plants and their pollination strategies in water, and who is aware of all creation.