Design of Colours in Plants

Design of Colours in Plants

If one does not reflect, one cannot see the miraculous characteristics of the living beings around one. So long as one does not think about how a butterfly with its membranous wings flies, how the flowers one sees have such diversity of colour, how the top branches of hundreds of metres tall trees remain green, one cannot grasp the subtleties of these. Even the extraordinary artistry in a flower may not capture one's attention.

As we examined throughout this book, however, perfect artistry is clearly displayed in all living beings from insects to birds, from plants to sea creatures. Certainly this artistry belongs to Allah Who is the Creator of all living things.

Let us think about plants, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and trees. Plants, each having different colours, fragrances and tastes, are evidence of the artistry in creation of Allah. Each plant you see around you or know from books has colours and patterns that are exclusive to its kind. The reproductive process of each is different, the proportions of nectar they contain and their fragrances are all different. Let us think about roses. There are red, white, yellow, orange, pink, white edged, double-coloured, even roses with wavelike colours. Certainly, it would be great blindness for a man who sees all this not to feel admiration for and not to glimpse the endless might of Allah, Who is the Creator of all these flowers. In the Qur'an, Allah refers to those who fail to appreciate the evidence of the creation they see as follows:

How many Signs there are in the heavens and earth! Yet they pass them by turning away from them. Most of them do not have faith in Allah without associating others with Him. (Surah Yusuf: 105-106)

Have you ever thought about why plants are green?

As is obvious, the colours prevailing in the world of plants are green and shades of green. Chlorophyll is the main substance producing green. Chlorophyll, a very important substance, is a pigment contained in the chloroplasts scattered out in the cytoplasm of the plant cell. These pigments absorb light coming from the sun easily, but only reflect the colour green. In addition to giving the colour green to leaves, this feature also causes the fulfilment of a crucial process called "photosynthesis".

In photosynthesis, plants utilise sunlight, which consists of the combination of different colours. One of the most important properties of the colours in sunlight is that their energy levels are different from one another. This assortment of colour called the spectrum, which is obtained by the refraction of colours in a prism for example, has red and yellow tones at one end, and blue and violet tones at the other end. Colours with the highest level of energy are those colours at the blue end of the spectrum.

The difference in the energy levels between colours is very important for plants, because they need large amounts of energy to make photosynthesis. For this reason, during photosynthesis, plants absorb those sunrays of the highest energy levels towards the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, i.e. violet and blue, as well as the colours that are more towards the infra-red (heat) end of the spectrum, i.e. red, orange and yellow. Leaves carry out all these processes through the chlorophyll pigment existing in the chloroplasts.52

For a plant to photosynthesise, the energy levels of the light particles that are absorbed by the substance chlorophyll must be adequate. The process of photosynthesis begins when a plant, with the energy it receives from light particles, breaks the water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen molecules. Hydrogen reacts with carbon in the carbon dioxide gas to form the sap of the plant, which is essential for the plant to survive. In other words, the plant produces its own food. Unused oxygen, on the other hand, is released to the air. Most of the oxygen we breathe in the atmosphere is produced that way.

As a result of the process of photosynthesis in plants, they produce carbohydrates, one of the main food sources for other living things. The substances produced during photosynthesis are extremely important for plants themselves as well as for animals and humans, because plants are the main source of food of all living things on earth.

As we have seen, besides providing an aesthetic appearance, the green colour of plants is also extremely crucial for the survival of both plants and other living creatures. Allah makes the substance chlorophyll a cause for the nourishment of plants and the sustenance of all other living creatures.

The dashed and solid white curves below illustrate the absorption spectrum of chlorophylls a and b. The black curve at the top illustrates the effectiveness of various wavelengths of light in powering photosynthesis. The figure reveals how closely the combined absorption spectra of chlorophylls a and b resemble the action spectrum of photosynthesis. 51

How do the Different Colours in Plants Come About?

As mentioned before, the colour reflected by each object depends on the pigment molecules that object has. The basic pigment molecule in green plants is the substance "chlorophyll" as earlier stated. In addition to this, there are other pigments producing other colours in plants, and these different kinds of pigments form the extraordinary colour diversity we see in plants.

For example, in addition to chlorophyll, there are also carotenoid pigments in plants. Some of these pigments, which we have examined in detail before, are yellow and give colour to ears of corn, lemons, goldenrod and sunflowers. Other carotenoids are much more red than yellow; these are found in beets, tomatoes, roses, and carrots. Carotenoids are also present in green leaves. Then one might wonder: why do leaves not look red, yellow or orange but are mostly in shades of green? The reason is that the green of the chlorophyll is so strong that other colours cannot be seen.53

However, changes occur in the autumn. As the hours of daylight become shorter, plants stop making chlorophyll, and the strength of the pigments producing the colour green decreases, causing the green colour of leaves to fade. The carotenoids, becoming visible now, colour the leaves brown, yellow, and red.

Also in the autumn, a group of pigments called "anthocyanins" form in the outer layers of certain leaves. These pigments, which are bright red and blue, combine with the others to give leaves the crimson and purple hues we occasionally see.54

Information about all the pigments giving colour to a plant is coded in the DNA of that plant. For this reason, a plant species bears the same characteristics no matter where on the earth. For example, everywhere in the world the colour of oranges is the same; their shape and the structure of their peels are the same. The colour of the transparent membrane, which lies inside the peel of the orange, and which constitute little sacs filled with orange coloured, perfumed sugared water, never change anywhere in the world. Bananas are everywhere yellow, tomatoes are red, and roses, violets, and carnations are all the same colours wherever they are. Wherever you go in the world, you will not see a naturally growing strawberry with a different colour. Everywhere in the world, the DNA of strawberries contains the characteristics that make them the strawberry we know. The colour, smell and taste of a strawberry are always the same. It is a unique, unparalleled order. Certainly, it cannot be claimed that such a system has come into existence by sheer chance.

The owner of this matchless artistry that prevails all over the world is Allah, Who has infinite wisdom. Allah has power over all things.

Have you ever thought how such diversity of colour comes about in plants although they all grow in the same soil and are watered with the same water?

In Surat ar-Ra'd, Allah draws attention to the fact that although all watered with the same water, different crops come out of the soil:

In 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 intellect. (Surat ar-Ra'd: 4)

As Allah has drawn to our attention, let us ponder, by looking at the vegetables and fruits around us, how different crops come out of the same soil. For example, let us look at melons, watermelons, kiwis, bananas, cherries, eggplants, tomatoes, grapes, peaches, and green beans. When you peel the dark yellow skin of a banana, out of it comes a banana of a lighter yellow with its matchless fragrance. The red, green or yellow peel of an apple has a smooth sheen. Humans cannot imitate the quality of the taste and smell, an aroma particular to it, of its sweet juice.

Then, the question may occur to one: how do all those flowers, trees, vegetables and fruits have so many different colours although they come out of the same arid soil? This is evidence of the endless knowledge of Allah and His creating without any preceding model. It is impossible for man to create a new colour. All colours produced by people are only copies of the originals existing in nature. However, Allah is the Originator, and the creation of all the colours describing the living creatures on earth is His. Allah's artistry in creation is matchless. One of the names of Allah, the All-Powerful, is al-Musawwir - the One Who forms His creatures in different forms. Allah creates everything He creates in the most perfect forms.

He is Allah - the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. (Surat al-Hashr: 24)

In nature, there is a diversity of colour that changes according to the seasons. Mountains, trees, lakes, rivers, in short, all nature is evidence of the unparalleled artistry in colour of Allah.

 

Rainbows in which the colour spectrum can be seen in a neat order are in fact an illusion of colour. Rainbows are formed by sunlight refracted through raindrops.

The colurs and appearance of all plants on the earth have been created in such a way as to appeal to the human soul. In fruits and vegetables, there is a matchless diversity of colour. On the other hand, when we think of flowers and trees we again see the same aesthetic appearance and diversity of colour.

There is also a totally unequalled colour and pattern design in flowers. Each of the hundreds of thousand kinds of flowers has been furnished with particular characteristics exclusive to its kind. Today, the perfumes, patterns and colours produced by men are all imitations of their original counterparts in nature. For instance, the purple colour of the leaves of violets, which are soft like velvet, and the smoothness of the surface of their leaves are matchless. Velvet fabrics are produced in imitation of the texture of violets but a similar quality can never be achieved.

With this approach, no matter what plant we examine on the earth, the conclusion we arrive at is that it is a perfect creation. Allah, Who has no partners in creation, creates plants for men with different tastes, fragrances, colours and forms. What falls to us is to reflect on the signs Allah creates and to be grateful.  

All of the fruits and vegetables you see in these pictures, which have different shapes and colours, grow in the same dry soil and are watered with the same water. Yet, each of them has a colour, taste and smell, particular to its kind. Allah has created each one of them uniquely and bestowed them upon us.

 

51. Solomon, Berg, Martin, Villie, Biology, Saunders College Publishing, 1993, p.192-193
52. Temel Britannica Ansiklopedisi, Vol. 7, p.16
53. Franklyn Branley, Color, From Rainbows to Lasers, Thomas Y. Crowell Comp., New York, p.37
54. Franklyn Branley, Color, From Rainbows to Lasers, Thomas Y. Crowell Comp., New York, p.38