INTRODUCTION

Let us ask a question about something we all know very well, the "seed." What is the difference between a seed, in its shell as hard as tree bark, and tree bark itself? Questions like this are rarely asked, because tree bark and seeds are insignificant details for people in their busy daily lives. The commonly held view is that there are more important and essential things to worry about in the immediate environment. This logic is quite widespread among people who only cast a superficial eye over their environment. For these people, knowing enough to meet their needs-regardless of the subject-is quite sufficient. According to this shallow thinking, everything going on around us is familiar and ordinary, and there is definitely a "known" and "familiar" explanation for everything. Flies fly because they have wings, the moon is just always in the sky. The earth is protected from threats that might come from space because it has an atmosphere. The oxygen balance never goes wrong. People feel, see, smell. But one who, abandoning this narrow view and looking at whatever is going on around him as if he were coming across everything for the first time, and lifting the curtain of familiarity which restricts his view, will see a wide horizon open up before him. He will start to think, asking the questions "why", "how", "for what?" more frequently, and will observe the world around him from this perspective. Explanations which used to satisfy him will no longer be sufficient. He will begin to grasp that there is something extraordinary in everything, in what goes on in the environment, in the features living things possess. As he begins to think, familiarity will give way to wonder. In the end he will see that everything was created and planned in a superior and perfect way by a Creator possessing endless power, knowledge, and wisdom. From that moment he will be able to see the power and sovereignty of God, the Lord of all the worlds, over all the living creatures He has created. In the creation of the heavens and earth, and the alternation of the night and day, and the ships which sail the seas to p eople's benefit, and the water which God sends down from the sky-by which He brings the earth to life when it was dead and scatters about in it creatures of every kind-and the varying direction of the winds, and the clouds subservient between heaven and earth, there are Signs for people who use their intellect." (Surat al-Baqara: 164)

THE WORLD OF PLANTS

The existence of plants is essential for the survival of living things on the earth. For the importance of this sentence to be fully grasped, we must ask: "What are the most important elements for human life?" Of course, basic needs such as oxygen, water, and nourishment come to mind as the answers to this question. And green plants are the most important factor in ensuring the balance of these basic needs on the earth. And there are other balances in the world, of great importance to all living things, not just human beings, such as temperature control and maintaining the correct proportion of gases in the atmosphere, and again it is green plants which maintain the entire equilibrium.
And the activities of green plants do not end there. As is known, the main source of energy for life on earth is the Sun. But human beings and animals are unable to make direct use of solar energy, because their bodies lack the systems to use this energy as it is. For this reason solar energy can reach human beings and animals as usable energy only through the food produced by plants. For example, while sipping tea, we are actually sipping solar energy, and as we eat bread, we are munching solar energy. The strength in our muscles is really nothing other than solar energy in a different form. Plants store this form of energy for us in the molecules in their bodies by carrying out complicated processes. The position for animals is no different from that of human beings. They are fed by plants, deriving solar energy from the plants' energy, which they store in packets.
Plants being able to produce their own nutrition and maintain themselves, in contrast to other living things, is due to their cell structure, which enables them to employ solar energy directly, unlike human or animal cells. With the help of this structure, plant cells turn energy from the sun into energy which people and animals can absorb through nutrition. They store this energy as food through the special procesesses concealed in their structure. These processes are collectively known as photosynthesis.
The necessary mechanism, or more accurately the miniature factory, by means of which plants are able to carry out photosynthesis, is found in their leaves. The transportation system, with its own very special features, for carrying necessary materials such as minerals and water, functions within plants' stems and roots. The reproductive system too has been specially designed in every species of plant.
There are complex structures within each and every one of these mechanisms. And these mechanisms function in connection with one another. If one is missing, the others cannot carry out their tasks. As an example let us take a plant which just lacks a transport system. It is impossible for such a plant to carry out photosynthesis, because the vessels necessary to carry the essential water are missing. Even if the plant managed to produce food, it would be unable to transport this to other parts of the body, and would eventually die.
As in this example, all the systems present in a plant are obliged to function flawlessly. Any flaws or defects in the existing structure will mean that the plant cannot carry out its functions, and this will result in the death of the plant and the disappearance of the species.
When these structures are studied in detail and in depth in the chapters that follow, a most complex and quite flawless design will emerge. When the variety of plants in the world is considered and evaluated, these extraordinary structures seem even more striking. There are more than 500,000 types of plant in the world. And each species possesses its own special planning within itself and features particular to that species. Together with the same perfect basic systems found in all of them, there is also an unparalleled diversity in terms of reproductive systems, defence mechanisms, colour, and design. The only unchanging thing in all this is the reality that the parts of the plants (leaves, roots, stems) and many other mechanisms, must exist at once and with no defects so that the general system, the body, can function.
Modern scientists attribute to such systems an "irreducible complexity." In the same way that a motor will not work if one of its cogs is missing, in plants the absence of just one system, or a single functional failure in any one of the parts of the system, will lead to the death of the plant.

The solar energy trapped by the chlorophyll in the leaf, carbon-dioxide in the air, and water in the plant go through various processes and are used to produce glucose and oxygen. These complex processes do not take place in a factory, but in special structures like those in the leaf in the picture, and which measure only one thousandth of a millimeter across.

All of a plant's systems have this feature of irreducible complexity. The complex systems, which must all be present at the same time, and this unbelievable variety bring to mind the question: "How did these perfect systems in plants emerge?"
Once again, let us ask some questions to find the answer to this one. Let us think how the functioning of the most important and best known of the mechanisms in plants, photosynthesis, and the transport systems linked to it, came about.
Can the trees and flowers which we see all around us at all times have themselves formed such perfect systems as to bring about a phenomenon such as photosynthesis, some parts of which are still not fully understood, in their own bodies? Did plants choose to use carbon dioxide (CO2), of the gases in the air, to produce food? Did they themselves determine the amount of CO2 they would use? Could plants have designed those mechanisms which make up the root system and which enable them to take the materials necessary for photosynthesis from the soil? Did plants bring about a transport system where different types of tubes are used for transporting nutrients and water?
As ever, defenders of the theory of evolution searching for an answer to the question of how plants emerged have resorted to "chance" as their only remedy. They have claimed that from one species of plant which came about by chance, an infinite variety of plants have emerged, again by chance, and that features such as smell, taste, and colour, particular to each species, again came about by chance. But they have been unable to give any scientific proof of these claims. Evolutionists explain moss turning into a strawberry plant, or a poplar, or a rose bush, by saying that conditions brought about by chance differentiated them. Whereas when just one plant cell is observed, a system so complex will be seen as could not have come about by minute changes over time. This complex system and other mechanisms in plants definitively disprove the coincidence scenarios put forward as evolutionist logic. In this situation just one result emerges.
Every structure in plants has been specially planned and designed. And this shows us that there is a Superior Intelligence which drew up this flawless plan. And the owner of this superior intelligence, God, the Lord of all the worlds, shows proofs of His flawless creation to human beings. God announces His dominion over living creatures and His incomparable creation in this verse:

He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth. That is God, your Lord. There is no deity but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is Responsible for everything. (Surat al-An'am: 101-102) 

AND A PLANT IS BORN

Plants, which have a most important role in the world's ecological balance and, indeed, in the continuation of life, possess a relatively more effective reproductive system than other living creatures. Thanks to this, they multiply without any difficulty. Sometimes it will be enough for a plant stalk to be cut and placed in the ground for the plant to multiply, at others for an insect to land on a flower.
The internally quite complex reproduction system of plants, although seemingly a very simple process, leaves scientists astounded.

A New Life Begins with the Leaving of the Parent Plant

Some plants do not have separate genders, but continue the reproduction of the species as one gender by special means. The new generation which emerges as a result of reproduction in this manner is an exact copy of the generation which brought it into being. The best known asexual reproduction method of plants is the modifying of stems and separating into different parts.
This way of reproducing (modified stems or division), realised with the assistance of some special enzymes, is typical of a large number of plants. For example, grasses and strawberries multiply by using horizontal stems known as "stolons." The potato, a plant which grows underground, multiplies by forming rhizomes (horizontal stems), which enlarge at the ends into tubes.

For some species of plants it is enough if a part of their leaves falls to the ground for another plant to grow. For example, the Bryophyllum daigremontianum produces young plantlets spontaneously on the margins of its leaves. Eventually these drop to the ground and begin an independent life.1
In some plants, such as the begonia, when the leaves which fall from it are placed on wet sand, young plantlets soon grow around the leaf base. And again in a short time, these plantlets begin to form a new plant resembling the parent plant. 2

Bearing these examples in mind, what is fundamentally necessary for a plant to reproduce by putting out a part of itself? Let us think! It is easy to answer this question when the genetic make-up of plants is examined.
Like other living creatures, plants' structural characteristics are encoded in the DNA in their cells. In other words, how a plant will reproduce, how it will breathe, how it will come by its nutrients, its colour, smell, taste, the amount of sugar in it, and other such information, is without exception to be found in all of that plant's cells. The cells in the roots of the plant possess the knowledge of how the leaves will carry out photosynthesis, and the cells in the leaves possess the knowledge of how the roots will take water from the soil. In short, there exist a code and a blueprint for the formation of a complete new plant in every extension that leaves a plant. All the features of the mother plant, based on its in-built genetic information, are to be found, complete, down to the last detail in every cell of every little part that splits off from it.
So, in that case, how and by whom was the information that can form a complete new plant installed in every part of the plant?
The probability of all the information being totally complete and the same inside every cell of a plant cannot be attributed to chance. Nor can it be attributed to the plant itself, or the minerals in the soil that carry out this process. These are all parts of the system which make up the plant. Just as it takes a factory engineer to program production line robots, since the robots cannot come by the instructions themselves, so there must be some being which gives to plants the necessary formula for growth and reproduction, since the plants, like the robots, cannot acquire these by themselves.
It is, of course God who implanted the necessary information in the plants' cells, as in all other living things in the world. It is He who without any doubt created everything in complete form, and who is aware of all creation. God draws attention to this truth in several holy verses:

He created the seven heavens one above the other. You will find no flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again-do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your eyes will become dazzled and exhausted. (Surat al-Mulk: 3-4)

Do you not see that God sends down water from the sky and then in the morning the earth is covered in green? God is All-Subtle, All-Aware. (Surat al-Hajj: 63)

Sexually Reproducing Plants

Reproduction carried out by means of the male and female reproductive organs in the flowers of plants is called sexual reproduction. Flowers show differences in features, such as shape, colour, the casing of reproductive cells, and petals. But despite this variety in structure, all flowers serve the same basic functions. These are to produce reproductive cells, prepare them for dispersal, and to fertilise other reproductive cells which reach them.
Pollens, which emerge at the time flowers start to open, are plants' male reproductive cells. Their functions are to reach the female organs in flowers of the same species and to ensure the continuation of their species of plant.
Every plant has its own method, or mechanism, which it uses to send its pollen out. Some plants make use of insects, others of the force of the wind. The most important point in the fertilisation of plants is without doubt the fact that each plant can only fertilise another plant of the same species. For this reason it is most important that the right pollen should go to the right plant.
So, how is it that there is no confusion during fertilisation, especially in the months of spring when there are so many varieties of pollen in the air? How does pollen stand up to its long journeys and changing conditions?
The answer to all these questions will be given when we examine the structure of pollen and the dispersal systems.

Pollens: Perfectly Packaged Genes

Although there is a lot of pollen in the air, plants begin the fertilization process only when pollen from their own species reaches them.

Pollen, a fine powdery substance, is first produced in flowers' male reproductive organs, and then moves to the outer part of the flower. Having reached there it begins to mature and becomes ready to fertilise the next generation. This is the first stage in the life of pollen.
Let us first cast a glance at the structure of pollen. Pollen is made up of micro-organisms invisible to the naked eye (each beech tree pollen grain is 2 microns in size, and each pumpkin pollen grain is 200 microns in size) (1 micron = 1/1,000 mm). A pollen grain consists of two sperm cells (generative cells) contained within a larger cell(tube cell).
Each grain of pollen may be likened to a sort of box. Inside are the plant's reproductive cells. It is essential for these cells to be well concealed to protect their life and keep them safe from external dangers. For this reason the structure of the box is very strong. The box is surrounded by a wall called the "sporoderm." The outermost layer of this wall, called exine, is the most resistant material known in the organic world, and its chemical make-up has not yet been fully analysed. This material is generally very resistant to damage from acids or enzymes. It is furthermore unaffected by high temperature and pressure. As we have seen, very detailed precautions have been taken to protect the pollen, which is essential for the continued existence of plants. The grains have been very specially wrapped up. Thanks to this, whatever method the pollen is dispersed by, it can remain alive even miles away from the parent plant. Besides the fact that pollen grains are coated with a very resistant material, they are also dispersed in very large numbers, which guarantees the multiplication of that plant.
As we have seen from the detailed structure of pollen, God reveals to us His incomparable art in all the things He creates and wishes us to think about them. Attention is drawn to this is many verses in the Qur'an. The following verse is particularly illuminating:

On the earth there are diverse regions side by side and gardens of grapes and cultivated fields, and palm-trees sharing one root and others with individual roots, all watered with the same water. And We make some things better to eat than others. There are Signs in that for people who use their reason. (Surat ar-Ra'd: 4)

Plants give off billions of pollen grains in every reproduction phase. The reason for pollen count being so high is to safeguard the reproduction of the plant against any danger.

Generally speaking, there are two different ways that pollen reaches the flowers to fertilise it. In the process of dispersal, the first stage in the fertilisation process, the pollen may stick to the body of a bee, butterfly, or other insect, and have itself carried that way, or may be borne along by air currents.

Pollens Which Open Their Sails to the Wind

Many plants in the world make use of the wind to disperse their pollen, for the continuation of the species. Plants such as oak, willow, poplar, pines, grasses, wheat, etc. are wind pollinated. The wind takes the minute particles from the plants, carries them to other plants of the same species, and thus ensures fertilisation.

Palm trees, which look so splendid, are among those plants which fertilize through the wind.

There are still many points which scientists are at a loss to explain, and many questions still awaiting answers regarding wind pollination. For example, how does each of the thousands of varieties of pollen borne by the wind recognise plants of its own species? How is it that the pollen given off by the plant manage to reach the plant's female organs without getting stuck anywhere? Although the probabilities of fertilisation are quite low, how is it that thousands of plants are fertilised in this way, and furthermore have been for millions of years?
To provide the answers to these questions, Cornell University's Karl J. Niklas and his team set out to study plants which pollinate by the wind. The results they produced were exceedingly surprising. Niklas and his team discovered that wind pollinated plants have aerodynamic flower structures to enable them to attract large quantities of pollen from the air.
And what is this aerodynamic structure in plants? What effect does it have? To provide the answers to these questions, we shall first have to explain what is meant by "aerodynamic structure." Forces originating in air currents operate on bodies moving in the air. Thanks to these forces, known as aerodynamic forces, bodies which manage to move in the air are known as "aerodynamically structured bodies." Some plants which employ wind pollination use this aerodynamic structure in a most effective manner. The best example of this is to be seen in pine cones.

Aerodynamic cones

Perhaps the most important question which led Karl Niklas and his team to make a study of wind pollination was "How is it that with this great number of pollens in the air the pollen from one plant is not caught by another species of plant and reaches other plants only of its own species?" This was the question which led scientists to study plants which fertilise by the wind, in particular pine cones.
In trees with cones, known for their long lives and height, the cones form male and female structures. Male and female cones can be on different trees as well as on the same tree. There are specially designed channels on the cones to draw to themselves the currents which carry the pollen. The pollen can easily reach the reproductive areas, thanks to these channels.
Female cones are larger than male cones and grow singly. The female cones consist of a central axis having arranged around it numerous sporophylls - leaf-like structures. These are structures in the form of casings resembling fish scales. It is at the base of these scales that two ovules (parts where eggs are formed) develop. When the cones are ready to pollinate, these cases open up into two sides. In this way they enable pollen from male cones to enter.

The air current created around a female pine cone is very important in pollination. First the wind is turned to the middle of the cone a)After blowing around the centre it passes over the surface of the scales b) The air suddenly and irregularly starts to circulate by the opening to the egg on each scale and pollen gathers in that region c) The pollens are then sent downwards and towards the scales parallel to the wind.

In addition, there are special assisting structures which enable pollen to enter the cone with ease. For example, the scales of the female cone are covered with sticky hairs. Thanks to these hairs, the pollen can easily be taken inside for fertilisation. After fertilisation, the female cones turn into wooden structures containing a seed. Later on, the seeds bring forth new plants under suitable conditions. Female cones also possess another striking property. The area where the egg forms (ovule) is very close to the centre of the cone. It would apparently be difficult for the pollen to reach this area. Because, in order to reach the inner part of the cone, it has to enter a special path which leads to the centre. Although at first sight this looks as if it might be a disadvantage to the fertilisation of cones, studies revealed that this was not the case.
To find out how this particular fertilisation system in the cones works, an experiment was carried out by preparing a model cone. The motion of small balloons filled with helium and left in currents of air was observed. It was found that these small balloons easily followed the air currents and possessed the property of being able to easily enter the narrow corridors in the cone.
Subsequently, the movements of the balloons in this experimental model were filmed using a special photographic technique. These images were then analysed with the help of a computer and the direction and speed of the wind were established.
According to the results from the computer, it was discovered that cones altered the movement of the wind in three ways. First, the direction of the wind is turned towards the centre by means of the leaves. Then later, the wind in this region is twisted and pulled into the area where the eggs are formed. In the second movement, the wind, which spins like a whirlpool and touches all the little casings, is then directed towards the region which opens to the centre of the cone. Thirdly, thanks to its protuberances which give rise to small currents, the cone turns the wind downwards and directs it towards the casings.

Cones have different thicknesses and shapes depending on their species.

Thanks to these movements most of the pollen in the air reaches the desired destination. And here there is no doubt that the point most worthy of note is that these three operations, which complement each other, must necessarily be coterminous. The perfect planning of the cones emerges at this point.
The theory of evolution claims that, as with all living things, there was a phased development over time in plants, too. According to evolutionists, the reason for the flawless structure of plants is coincidence. To appreciate the invalidity of this claim it will suffice to examine the faultless structure of the cones' reproductive system.
It is not possible for any living species to perpetuate itself without a reproductive system. This inevitable truth also applies to pine trees and their cones, of course. In other words, the reproductive system in the cones must have existed together with pine trees when they first emerged. It is not possible for the cones' perfect structure to have come into existence of its own accord over a period of time in different stages. Because it is necessary for the structure which leads the wind to the cones, for another structure which later directs the wind into the channels, and for the channels which lead to the area where the eggs are, to have come into existence at the same time with no detail missing. If one of these structures were missing, it would not be possible for this reproductive system to work. It only remains to say that the impossibility of the egg cell in the cone and the sperm cells which will fertilise it having come into existence by themselves by chance is another cul-de-sac from the point of view of the theory of evolution.
For all the parts of such a system to have emerged at the same time by coincidence, when it is impossible for even one part to have done so, is quite inconceivable. Scientific findings invalidate the theory of evolution's claims of emergence by chance from every point of view. For this reason, it is quite evident that if from the moment cones first appeared, they were in perfect form and possessed a flawless system, it was because they had been created by God.
Pine trees have other features which speed up the trapping of pollens. For example, female cones are generally formed at the tips of branches. This reduces the loss of pollen to a minimum.
Moreover, the leaves around the cones help more pollen to fall on the cones by reducing the speed of the air currents. The symmetrical arrangement of the leaves around the cones assists in the trapping of pollens coming from all directions.
Like all pollens, pine pollens have different shapes, sizes, and densities according to their species. For example, the pollen of one species are of a density that prevents them from following the air currents set up by cones of another species. For this reason they leave the current set up by the cone and fall to the ground. All varieties of cone set up air currents most suited to their own species of pollen. This feature of cones does not just serve to trap pollens. Plants use this filtration of the air currents for very different functions. For example, by this method female cones are able to change the direction of fungus pollens which could damage their egg cells.

The leaves of the American hybrid pine are situated where they cannot obstruct the passage of the pollen, so that fertilization is made easier.

The precautions taken by plants so that their pollen, thrown into the air at random, can reach their own species, are not limited to these. A plant's producing a great deal more pollen than is required to some extent guarantees the pollination process. Thanks to this the plant is not affected by pollen losses which could come about for various reasons. For example, every male cone on a pine tree produces more than 5 million grains of pollen a year, and one pine tree on its own produces in the region of 12.5 billion grains of pollen a year, which is an extraordinary number when compared to other living things.3
Even so, pollens borne by the wind still face a number of obstacles. One of these is leaves. Therefore when pollens are discharged into the air, some plants (hazelnut, walnut, etc.) open their flowers before their leaves, so that pollination may take place while their leaves are still undeveloped. Flowers are found on three parts of cereals and pines to facilitate pollination. In this case, the leaves are so organised as not to be an obstacle to the movement of the pollen.
By means of these pre-arrangements, pollens can go some considerable distances. The distance varies with the species. For example, pollens with air sacs can travel much greater distances than other species. It has been established that pine pollens with two such air sacs can be carried up to 300 kilometres on high air currents.4 Equally important is the fact that thousands of varieties of pollen travel such distances in the air, carried on the same wind, but without any confusion between them.

Pollens Aimed at their Target

To have a better understanding of the amazing features of plants which are fertilised by means of the wind, let us take another example:
Rockets have to follow a pre-determined trajectory to reach their targets. For this reason, very careful calculations have to go into the planning of the rocket if it is to reach its target. For instance, the rocket's features, its motor capacity and flight speed, along with particulars of weather conditions, such as air density, must be programmed in detail. Furthermore, there has to be exact knowledge of the structure of the target area and the prevailing conditions there. And these factors have to be arrived at by making the most minute measurements. Otherwise the rocket will go off course and fail to reach its target. For a rocket to successfully hit its target, many engineers have to work together and think everything out in great detail. It is clear that success in aiming at and hitting the target is the product of teamwork, fine calculation, and superior technology.
The flawless reproduction system in cones resembles rockets' being aimed at a target, in that everything is very accurately pre-planned with very sensitive adjustments. Many details, such as the direction of the air current, the different thicknesses of cones, the shape of the leaves, etc., have been specially taken into account and reproduction plans built on the basis of this information.
The existence of such complex structures in plants raises the question of how these mechanisms came about. Let us answer that question with another. Can this structure in cones be the work of chance?
The system in-built in the rockets is the result of long years of study and hard work by highly intelligent and knowledgeable engineers who are experts in their field. The complex structures in the cones, which have nearly the same working system as rockets, have been especially planned in the same way. To claim that a rocket could have come about by chance and say that it could hit a target by following a random trajectory is just as illogical as claiming that the extraordinary movements of pollen, aimed at the target in much the same way, and the detailed structure in the cones, could have come about as the result of coincidences.
And, of course, it is impossible that pollens could have the ability and knowledge to find their different ways on this journey. At the end of the day, pollen is a collection of cells. Going even deeper, it is something made up of unconscious atoms. There is no doubt that a cone's possession of a system so replete with detailed information about fertilisation is the result of its perfect creation by God, the Almighty and All-Knowing.
Another important point in the fertilisation of pine trees is the wind's being kept under control. The winds' performing their transport duties in such a flawless way is without doubt due to God, the Lord of all the worlds who directs the whole affair from heavens to earth. God refers to this in a verse:

And We send the fecundating winds. (Surat al-Hijr: 22)

All the plants in the world, without exception, perform such operations. Each and every species has known what it has to do since it first appeared. This event, which happens with the assistance of wind currents, has been going on for millions of years with no difficulty, despite being based on unlikely probabilities. As we have seen, everything happens in its due place and with perfect timing, because each one of these mechanisms is obliged to work in unison with all of the others and at the same point in time. If one of them were absent, that would mean the end of that species of plant.
It is clear that these systems, which have no intelligence, will, or consciousness of their own, neither in part nor as a whole, play their role in these unbelievable events by the order and through the creation of God, Possessor of infinite power and knowledge, who controls everything every second and has planned everything down to the tiniest detail. The coming into existence of every living and non-living thing, and every event, result from God's creation. God reveals this secret in a holy verse:

It is God Who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them, so that you might know that God has power over all things and that God encompasses all things in His knowledge. (Surat at-Talaq: 12)

To illustrate this point, let us imagine that we see a faultless technological implement, factory, or building, every detail of which has been planned with forethought: we feel no doubt that each one of these has a planner. We know, of course, that they were made by knowledgeable people and that there was control over every stage. Nobody can then stand up and claim that these things came about by themselves over time. We appreciate, respect, and praise the intelligence of those who planned them and what their skill produced.
And all living things were created together with systems planned down to the finest detail and dependent on the most sensitive balances. We see this wherever we look, without exception. There is no doubt that it is God who is worthy of praise here, who created all living creatures with all the abilities they possess. Like everything in the world, plants too maintain their existence thanks to the systems especially created by God, in other words they are under His control:

Everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to Him. God is Rich Beyond Need and Praiseworthy. (Surat al-Hajj: 64)

The keys of the Unseen are in His possession. No one knows them but Him. He knows everything in the land and on the sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it. There is no seed in the darkness of the earth, and nothing moist or dry which is not recorded in a Clear Book. (Surat al-An'am: 59)

Pollinators On Duty

As we have already mentioned, some plant species reproduce by having their pollen carried by animals such as insects, birds, bees, and butterflies.
The relationship between plants, which allow animals to disperse their pollen, and the animals which perform this duty amazes observers. Because in order to set up and perpetuate this system of mutual give and take, these living creatures attract and influence each other in quite expert ways. Generally speaking, it was at first thought that in their relationship with animals, plants played a very small role. Whereas researchers have put forward results completely at odds with this opinion. Plants, playing a very active role, directly influence animals' behaviour patterns.They have perfected strategies by which they direct the animals which will carry their pollen.
For example, plants' colour signals indicate to birds and other animals which fruits are ripe and ready for dispersal. The amount of nectar present, linked to the colour of flowers, increases the chances of fertilisation by encouraging the pollinator to stay on the plant longer. And specific floral odors attract the right pollinators at exactly the right time.5

The insects of different species in the pictures function as pollinators. God has created insects in complete harmony with plants. For example, the bee on the left has a basket made of special hairs on its leg, created to carry pollen.

Plants also sometimes use methods of deception to initiate the pollen-carrying process. The animal which is to carry out the particle spreading, generally falls into a trap laid by the plant, and in this way the plant achieves it aim.

Methods used by Plants: Colour, Shape, and Scent

As well as informing pollinators the presence of flowers, colour also helps to advertise their nectar reward status. When a pollinator approaches, the flower gives off stimulatory signals, such as scent, to show the insect the way to the nectar site. The colour patterning of flowers directs the pollinator to the centre where the nectar is located, and thus enables fertilisation.6

Some flowers, like the Lantana, let insects know of their pollen reward by changing colour.

Plants too know about the guiding function of the colours they possess. In fact, they deceive animals by employing this feature in a most conscious manner. Some plants which have no nectar use the colour features of nectar-producing flowers to attract insects to them. One very good example of this is the red cephelanthera, a species of orchid, and blue bellflowers which grow in forest regions in Mediterranean climates. While the the bellflowers give off a nectar which is most attractive to bees, the red cephelanthera does not possess the characteristics to do this. But it is the same wild bee, known locally as the "leafcutter," which carries out the fertilisation of both these totally different plants. While the leafcutter bees are fertilising the blue bellflowers, they feel the need to fertilise the red cephelanthera too. Bees fertilising a plant with no nectar attracted scientists' interest and they researched the reason for the bee's behaviour.

The answer to this question came as the result of research carried out with a device called a "spectrophotometer." From this it was realised that the leafcutter bees are unable to distinguish between the respective wavelengths of the light given off by the two different flowers. In other words, although human beings can distinguish between the light wavelengths given off by the blue bellflower and the red cephelanthera, since they can see the difference in colour between the flowers, wild bees cannot see the difference. Colour is an important factor for pollinators, and the bee, which goes to the blue bellflower, which gives off pollen, also visits and enables the fertilisation of the red cephelanthera which grows beside it, and which it sees as being the same colour. As we see, this orchid continues down the generations thanks to its "hidden resemblance" to blue bellflower.7

Some species of plant actually announce their pollen reward to insects by changing the colour of their blossoms. The following is an example:

Water lilies use Coleoptera (an insect order), sensitive to the colour white, to carry the pollen in their flowers which open on the water. The interesting thing in water lily pollination is that straight after fertilization this white turns to pink. For the Coleoptera, the change in colour of the flower means that the flower has been fertilized by another insect and that the pollen has been used up.

In a letter, naturalist Fritz Muller discussed a plant called Lantana, which grows in the Brazilian forests:
We have here a Lantana the flowers of which last three days, being yellow on the first, orange on the second, purple on the third. This plant is visited by various butterflies. As far as I have seen the purple flowers are never touched. Some species inserted their proboscis (mouth parts) both into yellow and orange flowers, others… exclusively into the yellow flowers of the first day. This is, I think, an interesting case. Of the flowers fell off at the end of the first day the inflorescence (flower) would be much less conspicuous, if they did not change their color much time would be much less conspicuous, if they did not change their color much time would be lost by the butterflies inserting their proboscis in already fertilized flowers.8
As Muller observed, the flower's changing colour is in the interests of both the plant and the pollinator. Plants whose flowers change colour offer the fertilising agents a lot of nectar when the flowers are young. As the flowers grow older, not only does their colour change, but they also contain less nectar. By correctly interpreting the color changes the pollinators save energy by not fruitlessly visiting plants which have little or no nectar.
Another of the methods which plants use to attract birds or insects is the scent given off by their flowers. Scents, which are just pleasant to us, actually serve to attract insects. The scent given off by flowers has the property of showing the way to the insects around it. When an insect smells the scent it realises that there is delicious nectar stored up for it nearly. It then heads straight for the source of the smell. When it reaches the flower, it will try to get the nectar and pollen will stick to it. The same insect will also leave behind pollen which stuck to it from another flower it visited, and will thus bring about fertilisation. It is not even aware of the important job it does. Its only aim is to reach the nectar it smells.

Plants' Deception Methods

We said that some plants use methods of deception. These plants do not have nectar with which to attract insects. These kinds of plants are fertilised by their making use of their similarities to insects. One species of orchid, the mirror orchid, possesses the shape and colour of a female bee in order to attract bees. This species of orchid is even able to give off a suitable chemical signal to attract male bees, and produces an effective pheromone (a special chemical).

The Cyprus bee orchid is another of the plants which imitate insects to ensure their fertilisation. The number of orchids employing this technique is quite large, and the methods used differ from one to the other. Some imitate a female bee with its head pointing upwards, others have the head pointing downwards. For example, the yellow bee orchid uses the second method. For this reason their modes of fertilisation differ.9

In the left picture is the Cyprus bee orchid, on the right is a male bee trying to fertilize the orchid because it thinks it is a female bee. The male bee tries to fertilize the orchid for a time. During this time, the pollen in the orchid's reproductive organ sticks to the bee's head. The bee will later go and pass this pollen on to other orchids in the same way. There is a harmony whose every detail has been very carefully planned between the orchids and the insects, and this cannot be explained by evolution. This harmony shows us that bees and orchids were created by God, in the same way as all other forms of life in the world.

Another species of orchid which imitates female bees is the dragon orchid. The lip of the dragon orchid's flower mimics the wingless female wasp so competently that only male wasps show any interest in them. Some members of the orchid family manage to attract insects to them, even if they have no nectar to offer. They secure the landing of male wasps on an area in the lower part of the flower by imitating the female wasp and giving off an attractive scent. The wasp which lands on the flower attempts to mate, and as a result, the orchid's pollinea are fixed on his body. Thanks to this deception, it deposits the pollen stuck on its body on another flower on which it lands with the same aim.10

A few examples of orchids which imitate bees, although there are many more of them. The interesting thing is that each of these flowers looks like a different type of bee. It would be ridiculous to claim that such perfect resemblances could have come about by chance. Orchids were created by God in possession of this feature.

Another plant which imitates the features of female animals is the hammer orchid. The reproductive mechanism of this orchid, which grows in dry grasslands of South Australia, is quite amazing. The hammer orchid has just one leaf, in the shape of a heart, and shows a total resemblance to the female wasp. While the male wasps fly, the females have no wings, and spend most of their time in the soil. When the time comes for the females to mate, they come out from under the ground so that the males can find them, and climb to the top of a tall plant stem. Once atop, they give off their mating smell and await the arrival of a male.
A special feature of the male wasps is that they reach the orchids two weeks before the females. This is a most interesting situation, because there are no female wasps around, only orchids which look just like female wasps and which are waiting for fertilisation. And when the male wasps come to the orchids, they smell an odour similar to that given off by female wasps. This is emitted by the orchid. Under the influence of this smell, the male wasps land on the orchid leaves. This triggers the plant's spring-loaded 'elbow' joint causing the wasp to fall on its reproductive organ. While the wasp attempts to escape from the flower, two pollen-laden sacs stick to the back of its head or to its back. In this way, when the wasp goes to other orchids, the pollen stuck to its back serves to fertilise them.11 As we have seen, there is a most harmonious relationship between the hammer orchid and the wasp. This symbiosis is most important for the reproduction of the plant. Because if successful pollination did not take place, in other words, if the pollen were not to be transported from the insect to another plant of the same species, then fertilisation would not take place.

A male wasp tries to mate with a flower which it has mistaken for a female wasp. This deception is completely natural because some orchids do not just imitate female wasps' colour, shape, and fur-covered lower regions, they also imitate the scent given off by female wasps.

There are many examples in nature of such accord as exists between the hammer orchid and the wild bees. Sometimes differences between flowers can be the reason for such a relationship. For example, it is very easy for some insects to enter some flowers, because that part of the flower where the pollen lies is open, and insects and bees can easily enter these regions and reach the pollen. Some plants have a nectar entrance of such a size as can be entered only by certain animals. For instance, in some situations bees push themselves through these gaps so as to reach the nectar in the flower. It is very difficult, even impossible, for other living things to do what the bee does so very easily.

Bees and other insects, on the other hand, are unable to fertilise flowers with long corolla (petals) tubes. Only long-tongued insects, such as butterflies and moths can fertilise these flowers.12

As we have seen from all these examples, there is a totally flawless harmony between insects, whose bodily structure is entirely suited to that of the plants, and the plants themselves.
It is impossible for the reciprocity in such a "lock and key" relationship to have come about by chance, as the evolutionists claim. Which means that to expect this to come about by chance contradicts the logic of the theory of evolution as maintained by evolutionists. According to the evolutionists' claims about natural selection, a life form which is not adapted to its environment either has to develop new mechanisms within itself or must slowly disappear. In this situation, according to the mechanism of natural selection, these plants, not being fertilizable by insects by reason of their particular flower structure, would either have disappeared or have had to change the form of their flowers. And in the same way, insects which can fertilise only these flowers because of the structure of their mouths, would either have disappeared for lack of food or have changed the structure of the organs they use to gather food.
But when we look at plants with long corolla tubes, or other plants, we see that they have developed no adaptation, in other words, a change or other supplementary mechanism. Again, no adaptation of any sort is to be seen in living creatures such as butterflies and moths.
These flowers, benefiting from a symbiotic relationship with the pollinators which fertilise them, have carried on living for many years, right up to the present.
What has been explained so far is just a short summary of methods employed by some different species of plant to survive down the generations. You will find all these details in any biology book, but those same sources are unable to provide a satisfactory explanation of the reasons for plants employing this pollen dispersal process. Because in every process carried out, features such as thought, reasoning, decision-making, and calculation-that we cannot ascribe to plants-are in evidence: we all know that a plant does not have the consciousness to perform such activities. Imagine the scenario we should be faced with if we said that a plant carried out all these processes of its own volition:
The plant "calculates" that its aerodynamic structure is suited to pollen dispersal by wind, and every subsequent generation employs the same method. Others "understand" that they will not be able to make sufficient use of the wind and, for this reason, make use of insects to carry their pollen. They "know" that they have to attract insects to themselves in order to be able to multiply, and try various methods to bring this about. They particularly identify what insects like. After finding which nectar and scents are effective for which insects, they produce scents by a variety of chemical processes and give them off when they have established the exact time to do so. They identify the taste in the nectar that insects will find pleasant and the totality of the substances in it, and produce these themselves. If the scent and nectar are not enough to draw insects to them, they decide to try another method, and, to suit this situation, make "deceptive imitations". Furthermore, they "calculate" the volume of pollen which will reach another plant of the same species and also the distance it has to travel, and on the basis of this, begin to produce it in the most suitable quantities and at the most appropriate time. They "think" of the possibilities that might prevent the pollen from reaching its destination and "take precautions" against them.

Some flowers open at night and so are fertilized by nocturnal creatures. One of the creatures which fertilize flowers at night are bats, which feed on the nectar in plants. The white, greenish, and purple flowers fertilized by bats at night have such a strong smell that bats, which are blind and fly in the dark, can easily find them. These flowers also produce great quantities of nectar. We see there is a perfect harmony between the two. There is no doubt that the creator of this harmony is God, the Compassionate and Merciful.13 The yucca has a rosette of spear-shaped leaves from the centre of which rises a mast bearing cream-coloured flowers. The special feature of the yucca is that its pollen is in a curved region. For this reason only this moth with a specially curved proboscis can gather the pollen from the plant's male reproductive organs. The moth moulds the pollen into a ball and takes this to another yucca flower. First it goes to the bottom of the flower and lays its own eggs. Then it climbs back up to the top of the stigma and rams the pollen ball into the top. The plant has not been fertilised. The yuccas could never set seed if there were no moths.14

Of course, such a scenario could not ever be a reality: in fact, this scenario breaks all the rules of logic. None of the above-mentioned strategies could be devised by an ordinary plant, because a plant cannot reason, cannot calculate time, cannot determine size and shape, cannot calculate the strength and direction of the wind, cannot determine for itself what kind of techniques it will need for fertilisation, cannot think that it will have to attract an insect it has never seen, and furthermore, cannot decide what methods it will need to be able to do any or all of these things.
No matter how much the details multiply, from what direction the subject is approached, and what logic is employed, the conclusion that there is something extraordinary in the relationship between plants and animals will not change.

In some flowers the nectar is hidden deep. This looks like a handicap to insects and birds gathering the nectar, in other words to the fertilization of the flower. Whereas it is not so for the flowers. Because God has made these plants' fertilization possible by creating creatures with features suitable for obtaining the deep-hidden pollen.

These living things were created in harmony with one another. This flawless system of mutual benefit shows us that the force which created both flowers and insects knows both kinds of living things very well, is aware of all their needs, and created them to be complementary to one another. Both living things are the work of the Lord of all the worlds, God, who knows them very well, who indeed knows everything. They are charged with presenting God's greatness, His supreme power, and His flawless art to men.
A plant has no knowledge of its own existence, nor of the miraculous functions it performs, because it is under the control of God, who planned its every feature, who created everything in the universe, and who continues to create at every moment. This truth is announced to us by God in the Qur'an:

Shrubs and trees both bow down in prostration (to Him). (Surat ar-Rahman: 6)

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.

THE SEED'S FLAWLESS DESIGN

Whether by means of the wind, or whether by means of other carriers, male pollens which reach female flower organs have reached the end of their journey. Everything is ready for the forming of the seed. The most important step in sexual reproduction is seed formation. It will be useful to examine this formation, starting right from the general structure of the flower.
In the center of most flowers are one or more carpels, the "female" reproductive parts. The carpel has a swollen end, called the stigma, under which there is a stalk, called the style, and at the bottom an ovary, which contains the blueprint for the seeds.
Pollen coming from male organs lands on the stigma, the surface of which is covered with a sticky liquid, and then reaches the ovary by means of the style. This sticky liquid has a very important function. As long as the pollen grains are unable to reach the ovary beneath the style, they will not be able to fertilise the seeds. This liquid ensures that by making them stick together the pollen does not go to waste. The seed is formed only when male and female reproductive cells come together.
After landing on the stigma, each individual pollen, in other words, each male reproductive cell, develops a thin tube downwards, and enters the ovary through the style. There are two sperm cells in each one of these pollen tubes. The tube grows down, and enters the ovary, and the sperm cells come free. In this way the nucleus of one of the sperm cells unites with the egg in the ovary. This fertilized egg cell develops into the embryo, which will form the seek. The nucleus of the second sperm cell unites with the two nuclei of the central cell and they form a specialized tissue which surrounds and nourishes the embryo. This development is known as fertilisation.
After fertilisation, the egg is wrapped up in a coat, and the embryo enters upon a kind of rest period, and grows to become a seed with the food sources stored around it.
In every seed which is formed by the joining of male and female sex cells, there is an embryo plant and a supply of food. This is a very important detail for the development of the seed, because, in the early stages, when it is underground, the seed has no roots or leaves able to produce nutrients, and it will need a food source to be able to grow during this time.
The embryo and the food store surrounding it are actually what we call fruit. These structures possess high levels of proteins and carbohydrates, because their function is to feed the seeds. This being the case, they form an indispensable source of nourishment for both human beings and other living things. Every fruit possesses the best qualities for protecting and nourishing the seeds it contains. The fleshy part, a quantity of water, and the structure of the external skin have the most effective forms for protecting the seed.
There is another important detail here. Each plant can fertilise only another plant of the same species. If a plant's pollen lands on the stigma of another species, the plant understands this and does not allow the pollen to grow out a tube to reach to its ovary; as a result the seed does not develop because there is no fertilisation.20
For instance, if pollen from wheat flowers is carried to an apple tree, that tree will not produce apples. It will be useful at this point to stop and reflect a little on the extraordinary nature of this. The flower of one species of plant recognises the pollen coming from the flower of a plant of the same species. If it is from its own species, it may start the process of fertilisation. If the pollen is not from its own species, the plant will not begin the fertilisation process. So how did the stigma of the female flower, which can distinguish pollen from its own species according to certain criteria, learn to carry out this identification? How does it know that it has to close down its mechanism against foreign pollen? There is no doubt that the intelligence which controls the plant's every detail designed this mechanism in the flower in the most subtle way so as to guarantee the perpetuation of the species from generation to generation.
What kind of environment the embryo seed would develop in, what it would require during the stages of its development, what it would find when it emerged from the soil, what kind of protection it would need, and all other exigencies were thought of in advance, and the seed was designed with these needs in mind. The external layers protecting the seeds (seed coats) are generally very hard. This structure protects the seed from any external threats it will face and exhibits modifications according to the environment in which it is found. For example, in the final stage of the development of some seeds a resistant waxy substance forms on the external surfaces, thanks to which the seeds become resistant to the effects of water and gas.
And the flawless structures in a flower's life do not end here. The seed coats may be covered with different substances according to the species of the plant; for instance, a single bean will be covered in a thin membrane, and a cherry seed will be protected by a hard, woody coat. The coats of seeds which have to be resistant to water are harder and thicker than others. Again, seeds have been given very different shapes and sizes according to their species. The amount of nourishment is different between those seeds which have to last for a long time before sprouting (for example coconut seeds) and those which begin to sprout a short while after coming into contact with water (melon, water melon, etc.).
As we have seen, seeds have very intricate systems to enable them reproduce easily and to endure without any breakdown. The intelligence to be seen in each stage of the systems specially designed for plants to reproduce, is a clear proof that these systems were created by God, the possessor of superior knowledge.

Substances such as vitamins, proteins, and carbohydrates in fruit both protect and feed the seed, and provide an important source of food for other living things. There is an unbelievable variety of fruit and vegetables, which all come from the same dry soil and are watered with the same water. Furthermore, their shapes, tastes, and scents are each a wonder of planning.

Time to Spread: the Dispersal of Seeds

The methods employed by plants when spreading their seeds, each one of which is most effective, vary with the structure of the seeds of each plant. For example, seeds which are small and light enough to fly on a very slight breeze, immediately fall off when stirred by the wind and are fertilised without any difficulty. It is enough for some plants to reproduce for their seeds simply to fall to the ground. Others disperse their seeds by a natural catapult method, in other words, they fire their seeds off. This is brought about by the release of the tension which forms when the seed is growing inside its coat. The seed coats of some plants split open after drying in the sun, and others open and disperse their contents when affected by such external factors as the wind or animals.

The picture at the top left shows seeds flying out of the poplar tree.In the other pictures, plants' fruits open and split when they are ripe and thus reveal their seeds with their silky hairs. These silky hairs have been specially designed to move easily in the air.

Plants Which Disperse Their Seeds by Bursting
The Mediterranean Squirting Cucumber

When we examine the methods employed in the dispersal process, which is exceedingly important to the reproduction of plants, we see that they are built upon the most sensitive of balances. For instance, some plants, such as the Mediterranean squirting cucumber, use their own power to spread their seeds. As Mediterranean squirting cucumbers begin to ripen, they begin to fill with a slimy juice. Some time later the pressure exerted by this liquid builds up to such an extent that the outer skin of the cucumber cannot resist it and bursts off its stalk. When this happens, the cucumber sprays the liquid inside it like the trail of a rocket being fired into the air. Behind the cucumber comes a trail of slime and with it, seeds.21
The mechanisms here are very sensitive; the seed-pods fill with liquid when the cucumber begins to fully mature, and the explosion takes place at the time when maturation is complete. If this system began to work prematurely, the cucumber's bursting off its stalk before the seeds were formed would serve no purpose. Such an eventuality would mean the end of that species of plant. But no such risk presents itself, thanks to its pre-planned perfect timing. The claim that these mechanisms, which have each had to be present right from the start, evolved as the result of a period of change lasting hundreds, thousands, and even millions of years, is certainly not founded on intelligence, logic, or science.
The seed-pods, the liquid inside them, the seeds, the maturing of the seeds-everything must come into existence at the same time. The uninterrupted perpetuation of such a system, which has functioned perfectly right up until today, shows that it emerged at the very outset in a complete and flawless form. In other words, it was created by one Creator.

The Broom and the Hura Tree

The reproduction of the broom again takes place with the self-opening method, but in a manner exactly opposite to that of the Mediterranean squirting cucumber. The bursting of the seeds of the broom happens not with an increase of liquid, but with its evaporation. As a pod warms on a summer's day, the side facing the sun dries faster than that in the shade. The pod splits suddenly into two halves as a result of the difference in pressure between the two sides, and in this way the tiny black seeds inside are dispersed in all directions.
One of the most successful plants which disperses its seeds by bursting is the Brazilian tree known as the "Hura." When the tree dries out and the time comes to disperse its seeds, it can hurl them up to a distance of some 12 metres. This is a considerable distance for a tree.22

Helicopter Seeds

European maples and sycamores have a very interesting design. These seeds are equipped with only a single wing which sprout from just one side. The weight of the seed and the length of the wing are so well balanced that these seeds also spin. Sycamores often grow in relatively isolated locations, and there the wind can give the seeds considerable assistance. Spinning around themselves, helicopter seeds can travel great distances in even a slight breeze.23
The seeds inside the pods of Bertholletia trees, which grow in South America, stay where they are for a while after falling to the ground. The reason for this is that they have no properties to attract animals' attention. They have no smell, for instance, their exteriors are not striking to look at, and furthermore they are very difficult to break. For this tree to reproduce, the pods, containing the nuts, have to be taken out of the shells and buried underground.
But none of these negative properties are a problem for the Bertholletia, because there is a creature sharing the same environment with it that can overcome all these shortcomings.
The agouti, a rodent which lives in South America, knows that there is food for it under this thick, odourless shell. Thanks to the agouti's chisel-sharp front teeth, it can easily cut through the tough pod shell to get to the seed. There are about 20 nuts inside each shell. And this is more than the agouti can eat at one go. The agouti therefore stuffs the nuts in its cheek pouches and covers them up after burying them in little holes it digs. Although it carries out this process in order to find and eat the nuts later, fortunately, the agouti does not have a perfect memory and the majority of the seeds are forgotten and left to germinate into a new tree about a year later.24 This harmony is not, of course, one which arose by chance. These living things did not discover one another by chance. These living things were created. This complementarity, of which there are countless examples in nature, is the product of a superior wisdom. God, the Possessor of this superior wisdom, creates both living things with all these characteristics and their symbiotic connection.

Seeds Which Can Withstand All Conditions

As a rule, reproductive cells in living things die shortly after leaving their own natural environments. But this does not apply to plants. Both plant pollen and seeds can remain alive miles away from the parent plant. And furthermore, it is not important how much time passes after leaving the parent plant. There are seeds which remain viable after years, or even hundreds of years.

If the seeds of the lupine sense that it is not warm enough for them, they can wait under the soil for years without sprouting.

The lupine, found in the arctic tundra, is a fine example of plant seeds being able to survive for long periods. The seeds of the plant feel the need for the warm weather of certain times of the year in order to germinate. When they feel that the heat is insufficient, even if all the other conditions are met, the seeds do not burst, but wait in the frozen soil for the temperature to rise. When the perfect environment is attained, they start to grow and finally germinate, taking no account of the length of time that has passed since they left the parent plant. Seeds have even been found in the fissures between rocks that have lasted out for hundreds of years without sprouting or spoiling.
This is a most interesting situation. What does it mean for a plant to be aware of its external environment? Since the plant will not be able to manage this by itself, let us consider what other possibilities there might be. A mechanism inside the plant might inform it of the situation. The plant may then suddenly arrest its development, as if an order had been given. But in that case how did such a system develop? Did the plant devise this system by thinking about it for itself? How did it produce the technical necessities within itself?
Of course the plant did not construct this system itself. All this information is always in the plant seed, hidden in the genetic code, right from when the plant first emerged. The lupine in any case possesses a system which can arrest its development when it comes across cold weather. It is impossible for such a structure to come about on its own. No matter how long the imaginary formation time which evolutionists call the "evolutionary period," and whatever coincidences take place during it, the formation of such a system which informs plants about the weather situation is completely impossible.
In the same way, seeds of Mimosa Glomerata were kept in dry storage in a herbarium, and germinated at once when soaked in water. Another example of a plant with highly resistant seeds is the Albizia Julibrissin. Its seeds, kept in London's British Museum herbarium, germinated after no less than 147 years, when became soaked during efforts to put out a fire in the building during the Second World War.25
Because air temperatures are low in tundra regions, spoiling takes place slowly. So much so that some seeds, taken from inside 10,000 year-old glaciers, can return to life when taken to laboratories and given the necessary amounts of heat and moisture.26
As we all know, the substance of the seed contains a certain quantity of nutrition with an outer shell reminiscent of wood. The idea that it could have a thermometer inside it, that it could have any way of exchanging information with the outside world, and that it could have the ability to decide on its actions, on the basis of the information it receives as a result of its own capacities must be described as illogical, or even "irrational." We are faced with an extraordinary substance, which looks like a small piece of wood from the outside, with no link between the enclosed place it is in and the outside world, yet which can measure air temperatures and in later stages decide whether the heat is sufficient for development. A piece of wood which possesses such perfect mechanisms as to realise that unfavourable conditions will later damage its development after germinating, which knows what it has to do to arrest its development the moment it senses such unfavourable conditions, and to continue its development from where it left off when temperatures rise to the necessary level.
This extraordinary mechanism in seeds with this resistant structure cannot be explained by means of chance as the evolutionists claim. In fact, seeds were designed, or in other words created, in such a way as to resist difficult conditions.
Without doubt God, the Lord of all the worlds, shows us evidence of His creation and His own existence even in these little seeds.

It is He Who sends down water from the sky. Thus We bring forth plants of every type with it; We produce green vegetation from it. We produce close-growing grain from it and the palm trees laden with clusters of dates close at hand produced from pollen, as well as orchards full of grapes, olives and pomegranates, which are so similar and yet dissimilar. Look at their fruit as He causes it to grow and ripen. In that there are signs for people who believe. (Surat al-An'am: 99)

Seeds Which can Stay in Water for 80 Days

Sea beans, like coconuts, let the sea carry their seeds.

Alongside seeds which can resist cold weather conditions, others possess structures which allow them to stay in water for a long time. There are even seeds which can remain in water for as long as 80 days without germinating or spoiling. The most famous of these is the coconut. For the coconut seed to be transported in safety, it is placed within a very hard shell. Everything needed for a long journey, a supply of rich food and a half-a-pint or so of water, is ready inside it. On the outside, it is fitted with a fibre float that keeps it on the surface of the water.
The sea bean is another plant which sends its seeds by water. Its seeds are not as large as coconuts, and even after a year at sea, it can still be viable.27

As soon as coconut palm seeds realize they have reached land after their long journey on the water, they begin to germinate. These seeds were created to be especially resistant to water.

As seen from these two examples, the most important property of plants which multiply by using water as a vehicle is that the seeds germinate only when they reach dry land. Actually, this is a most interesting and exceptional situation, because as we know, plant seeds usually begin to germinate as soon as they come into contact with water. But this does not apply to these particular plants. Because of the particular structure of their seeds, plants which disperse their seeds by water do not abide by this rule. If these plants began to germinate as soon as they came into contact with water, as other plants do, they would long since have died out. Whereas these plants are able to survive by reason of general mechanisms suited to the conditions in which they live.
All plants in the world possess the structures best suited to them. These exceptional features bring to mind the question: "How is it that such resistance should have come about in just those species of plants which need it?" Let us take an example-the coconut is the answer to this question:
1. Palm seeds will need a resistant structure in order to be able to spend a long time in water, and for this reason their shells are quite hard. The shells also have water-resistant properties.
This is not a coincidence!
2. They will need more nourishment than normal on their long journeys, and the exact quantity of food necessary is placed inside the coconut seed-package.
This too is not the work of coincidence!
3. They open the moment they "know" they have arrived on dry land.
There is no way this is a coincidence!
As we have seen, these seeds, with their hard shells, their nutrition stores, their sizes, and in short, all their special features, have been designed to be resistant for long periods when necessary. If this finely calculated structure, the shell thickness of which is exactly measured, and the required store of nutrition had had to come about as the result of coincidences, the seed would have germinated before it reached the land, in other words, it would have died.
Of course, no such thing happens, thanks to the sensitive controls over the germination of these seeds. There is absolutely no doubt that the amount of food and water in the seeds, when they are to come to land, and in short all the precautions taken, could not have come about by means of any intelligence or abilities of the seeds themselves.
All these fine calculations and measurements were flawlessly carried out by God, who created the seeds, who knows all their needs and characteristics, and who possesses infinite knowledge and intelligence.

Everything has its measure with Him. (Surah ar-Ra'd: 8)

As for the earth, We stretched it out and set upon it immovable mountains and made everything grow in due proportion on it. (Surat al-Hijr: 19)

The Ant - A Hired Porter

Some seeds have features which are structurally different from those most widely known. The most surprising facts emerge when one examines them. As an example, let us take a seed which is covered in an oily, edible tissue. This oily tissue, which may look quite ordinary at first sight, is actually a most important detail for the survival of that plant species. For that is why ants show an interest in that particular plant. The multiplication of these plants takes place by means of ants, unlike most plant species. The plant, which is unable to place its seeds under the ground by itself, has chosen to do so by having ants carry them. The oily tissue around the seeds is a most attractive food for ants, which eagerly gather the seeds up and carry them to their nests, where they bury them underground.

The seeds in this picture need ants to germinate. The ants' job is first to carry the seed underground, then eat the external casing. As we see, God has created a harmony between the way the ants feed and the way the plants reproduce.

It might be thought that the seeds' being food is the reason why the ants make such a great effort, but that would be wrong. Despite all the effort the ants make to carry the seeds to their nests, they eat only the external casing, and leave the fleshy inside part. In this way, the ants obtain something to eat, and that part of the seed which carries out the reproduction of the plant is left buried in the soil.28 It would be scientifically completely unrealistic to claim that ants do all this knowingly, or that the plant arranged its seed to have certain features that would appeal to a particular species of ant, or planned to live in the same environment as them.
There can be no argument that the consciousness which organized this flawless reciprocity belongs neither to the plant, nor to the ant. It belongs to a Creator, who knows all the properties of these two living things, and made them for one another. In other words, it is God, their Creator, who gave them that consciousness.

Everyone in the heavens and earth belongs to Him. All are submissive to Him. (Surat ar-Rum: 26)