The Sunflower's Hydraulic
Design
Most of us see sunflowers every day and enjoy, not only their beauty, but
also the seeds which are good to eat for both humans and a variety of birds
and mammals, and the stalks can be used for fibers for textiles. Sunflowers
can reach 12 feet in height and have a head that is a foot or more in diameter.
This head is not really one blossom, but actually a cluster of hundreds of
small five pointed flowers.
What is interesting about growing sunflowers is the fact that they demonstrate
phototropism, the ability to rotate their head so that the face of the head
always faces the sun even though the angle of the sun's rays on the head constantly
changes. That means that the head faces east as the sun rises, and follows
the sun across the sky so that at sunset it is facing west.
Studies of sunflowers have shown that the way this is accomplished is by
a hydraulic system built into the stem. Water accumulates on the shady side
of the stem, and as the pressure builds it forces the head in a steady arc
toward the direction of the light. Because it is a hydraulic system and a
fluid is being used, the pressure is distributed uniformly on the back surface
of the head, so it does no damage to the plant and yet provides enough force
to move a large surface in a 180° arc. When you push on the brake pedal
of your car, a similar system is used to stop the car.
Hydraulic systems are used in most mechanical objects that man uses where
large amounts of force are needed--airplanes, trucks, bulldozers, etc. Engineers
work carefully to make the systems work, and great intelligence is needed
to design a system that will function without damage to the object being steered
and yet provide enough force to accomplish the desired result. So, too,
the sunflower has been designed to use a complex system to provide the movement
of its large head toward the source of the energy that makes it work. The
intelligence of God can be seen wonderfully in every part of the world around
us, and the more we learn about how it works the more we see the wisdom and
planning of God.
--John N. Clayton
Back to Contents Does God Exist?, SepOct03.