Strong plants that can withstand difficult conditions

Which plant can meet its water needs through its leaves in addition to its roots?

How does the canary flower protect itself from the cold?

How do the plants survive draught?

Monteverde Cloud Forest

Our Lord created a perfect system to meet the water needs of the plants. We all know that the plants absorb  water from the soil through its roots and sends this to its stem and leaves through its xylem tubes. However, some plants are in higher altitudes, practically living in the clouds, and therefore they have to use their leaves to meet their water needs. 

The rain forests in lower altitudes obtain their water needs from daily rainfall. However, the trees living in the tropical climates, the so-called clouds or the mist forests, use the moisture in the air; in other words, the clouds, to meet their needs.  This is another perfect example of the sublime art of Creation by our Lord.

One of the most beautiful examples of such cloud forests are the cloud forests of the Costa Rica mountains. In this forest, it is usually foggy and humid, but despite that the soil itself is dry. Therefore, the trees cannot get enough water from the soil. However, the leaves in the clouds, which are always wet, easily get the water they need. It is because our Lord created the leaves here in such a special way so that they can easily absorb the moisture in the air and take it to the branches and to the trunk. This special system created by our Lord helps many other living things survive as well. In this forest, at an altitude of 600 to 1800 meters, there are more than 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species, and thousands of species of insects.  Almighty Allah, the Lord of the worlds, with all these details, showcases the evidence of His existence and His sublime art of creation. Allah creates whenever He wills, and in a unique way. He has no partners in creation. This is explained as follows in the  Qur'an:

That is Allah, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. Eyesight cannot perceive Him but He perceives eyesight. He is the All-Penetrating, the All-Aware. (Al-An’am 102-103)

Yareta

Yareta is a native plant of South America, occurring in the Puna grasslands of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, the north of Chile and the west of Argentina at altitudes between 3,200 and 4,500 metres . The most important thing about this flower, which is pollinated by insects, is that they live for a very long time; there are some specimens which are about 3,000 years old. They look like algea, but when looked at more closely, one can see thousands of small flower buds that stick together to look like one big pillow. It is also known as the 'Andes pillow' and has flowers in different colors from pink to lilac. 

Pink Banana Plant

This banana species growing in North and East India, reaches a height of 120 centimeters, and displays an amazing example of Allah’s beautiful color artistry. It has pink to orange flowers, pinkish stalks and small, pink fruits. This plant can grow in permeable, organically rich soils, in half shade. An interesting thing about this plant is that it is highly resistant to cold. Even if its body dries up due to excessive cold weather, its roots can withstand up to -10 degrees celcius. Allah creates everything flawlessly down to tiniest detail, and created this plant in such a way that its every need is met. Allah has control over everything. Allah knows about everything going on in the universe. Allah makes that truth clear in the following verse: 

“He directs the whole affair from heaven to earth....” (Surat As-Sajdah, 5)

There are some plants which manage to survive in very harsh conditions, where human beings would never be able to do the same in the absence of  specialized  tools. These plants  not only survive, they also have incredible measures to defend themselves amazing the scientists and researchers alike. These miraculous plants can survive despite the lack of warmth, water and minerals, displaying yet another example of Almighty Allah’s infinite wisdom and creation art.

The drought-tolerant plants

Many plants in arid areas can store water. Each plant has different techniques and places to store the water. These plants were created in such a way that they can easily tolerate a lack of water. For instance, The Pygmy cedar (peucephyllum) and  the caper bush, which can stay green even in the driest of conditions after obtaining sufficient  moisture during the  night , are some of these plants.

Many such trees and bushes have special leaves that can withstand drought. For instance, some of them have needle or bouqet shaped small leaves. This  ensures that they have fewer surfaces that are exposed to sunlight.  Others have pores on only one part of their leaves, mostly on the upper side. These pores ensure that  water loss is minimized due to evaporation when it is windy. Some leaves have such pores on both sides; especially when it is foggy these pores obtain moisture from the air.

The leaves of some plants such as Manzanita, are created so that they stand upright. By the means of this special creation, the surface is subjected to less sunlight and thus loses less water.  

Paloverde, which has no leaves, photosynthesize with its body. Having lots of leaves in a desert means more evaporation of  water. Therefore, Allah created all these plants with special features that will make them resistant to harsh desert conditions. All  desert plants have special measures protecting them from high temperatures. It is Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, that gave all these plants the abilities they have to survive in their enviornments.  

Canary plant

Canary plants (senecio vulgaris) live on the heights of the Kenya Mountains in  Equador and are striking plants with flamboyant flowers.  In this region, where there is usually  a thin layer of frost on the soil at night, the slopes can often be seen covered with this plant.

The leaves of this plant have a special substance that prevents the tissues from being hurt from frost; thanks to this protective substance, the thin layer of frost melts under sunlight and then the body gets back its old shape.

With the sunlight the frost covering the plant starts to melt and water starts evaporating through the pores. However, the canary plant has to pump water back to the now empty pores to prevent its leaves from drying out. There is another danger looming; with the weather getting colder, the water channels begin to slowly freeze .  However, the lowest circle of leaves surrounding the stalk of the canary flower begins to dry out during a certain period of the year. However, unlike other plants, the dry leaves do not fall off; instead, they hold on. Thus, these dry leaves act like a thick shield for the plant guarding it from the cold weather. With this wise method, the  canary plant prevents the channels inside from freezing and manages to send the water to the rest of the plant.

It is impossible for a soil-bound plant to build such a protective measure on its own and insert the relevant data in its genes so that its offspring can have the same trait, too. Allah created these plants with His infinite beauty and art of creation.

All these examples show that it is  Almighty Allah, the lord of the worlds, Who gives the plants the information they need, Who shapes them, and gives them the traits they need to survive despite  the difficult conditions. This truth is explained in a verse as follows:

“Your god is Allah alone, there is no god but Him. He encompasses all things in His knowledge.’ (Surah Ta Ha 98)