Therewith We brought forth plants of all kinds and from them...

Therewith We brought forth plants of all kinds and from them the verdure and We brought forth from it the clustered grains, and from the palm-tree its spathes with bunches of dates (hanging) low, the gardens of grapes, olives and pomegranates similar and different. Look at their fruit, when they bear it, and their ripening.

Verily, in that there are signs for people who believe." --sura 50, verses 9-11: "We sent down from the sky blessed water whereby We caused to grow gardens, grains for harvest, tall palm-trees with their spathes, piled one above the other- sustenance for (Our) servants. Therewith We give (new) life to a dead land.

So will be the emergence (from the tombs)." The Qur'an adds to these general data others that refer to more specialized subjects: Balance in the Vegetable Kingdom --sura 15, verse 19: "The earth . . . We caused all kinds of things to grow therein in due balance." The Different Qualities of Various Foods --sura 13, verse 4: "On the earth are adjacent parts; vineyards, sown fields, palm-trees, similar and not similar, watered with the same water.

We make some of them more excellent than others to eat and verily in this are signs for wise people." It is interesting to note the existence of these verses because they show the sober quality of the terms used, and the absence of any description that might highlight the beliefs of the times, rather than fundamental truths. What particularly attracts our attention however, are the statements in the Qur'an concerning reproduction in the vegetable kingdom.

Reproduction in the Vegetable Kingdom One must bear in mind that there are two methods of reproduction in the vegetable kingdom: one sexual, the other asexual. It is only the first which in fact deserves the term 'reproduction', because this defines a biological process whose purpose is the appearance of a new individual identical to the one that gave it birth. Asexual reproduction is quite simply multiplication.

It is the result of the fragmentation of an organism which has separated from the main plant and developed in such a way as to resemble the plant from which it came. It is considered by Guilliermond and Mangenot to be a 'special case of growth'. A very simple example of this is the cutting. a cutting taken from a plant is placed in suitably watered soil and regenerated by the growth of new roots.