SEX IN PLANTS

53- And has sent down water from the sky. With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants.

20-Ta-He, 53

3- ...And fruit of every kind He made in pairs two and two.

13-The Thunder, 3

During the time of the Prophet, biology was not a developed science and the system of
reproduction of plants was not known. Differentiation of sex in plants was to be a later
discovery. The concept of the production of diverse pairs of plants as stated in the Quran
1400 years ago is very meaningful.

Most species of plants exhibit features of sex, namely, the production of specialized sex cells
or gametes and the fusion of these cells in pairs, called fertilization. In flowering plants, the
gametes are produced within the flowers. In the female portion, the egg of the plant forms a
bulge: this is the ovum with its small and round seeds. Sperm is produced within the pollen
tubes and then is carried by wind or insects or other agents from the pollen-producing
organs of the flower to the stigma of the pistil. Inside the pistil are ovules, within each of
which a female sex cell (egg) is produced. The fertilized egg develops into the embryo of the
seed, and the ovule eventually becomes the mature seed. The pollen grain with its tube and
contents is the male gametophytes of a flowering plant, and the central tissue (embryo sac)
of the ovule with its egg constitutes the female gametophytes of a flowering plant.

PERFECT HARMONY
Plants are of almost infinite variety, their range stretching from the tiniest of plants to the
gigantic Californian redwood (Mammoth tree) reaching a height of 90 meters. In the sexual
reproduction of plants, male and female organs are differentiated. They have an extremely
complex and perfect microscopic world. Thousands and thousands of female and male organs
fit each other as if encoded. Had this harmony been a little bit less perfect, none of these
plants could have perpetuated their species, since everything depended on these male and
female reproductive organs. The least defect in any of them would mean the end of that
particular species. These organs must exist in perfect condition within the same species of
plant within the same time bracket. This impeccable order shows once again the perfection of
the Creator’s design, which leaves no room whatsoever for coincidences. A complex code
designed to unlock quadrillions of safes cannot possibly be the result of fortuitousness. The
case of plants’ sexual reproduction is even more complicated, and the sexuality in plants and
reproduction are but one of the many aspects of the creation of plants. Every plant in its
impeccable form is an ornament of our world, a part of our ecological system, a miracle of
creation.