Plants - The Wearin' O' the Green

Happy Saint Patrick's Day! Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and legend has it that he used the shamrock, or three leaf clover, to teach the people about the Holy Trinity - three Persons in one God. From the symbol of the shamrock comes the "Wearing of the Green" on Saint Patrick's Day. The day is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland but elsewhere around the world we celebrate by wearing something green, drinking green beer and green shakes and eating green eggs and ham.

Well green seems to be one of God's favorite colors. You can not go into any area of vegetation without seeing a splash of green. Plants obtain their green color from Chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is a green pigment found in almost all plants as well as many algae, and bacteria. Its name is derived from the Greek words chloros ("green") and phyllon ("leaf"). Chlorophyll is a biochemical that is used in photosynthesis to produce energy from the sun. Chlorophyll absorbs light most strongly in the blue and red portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, it is a poor absorber of green portions of the spectrum, hence the green color of Chlorophyll-containing tissues.

Chlorophyll a
Chlorophyll is structurally a chlorin ring, with a magnesium ion in the center. Varying side chains are connected, producing several different forms that occur naturally, but the most widely distributed form in terrestrial plants is chlorophyll a.

Chlorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called photosynthetic reaction centers that contain Chlorophyll. In plants, this occurs inside organelles called chloroplasts. Some of the light energy gathered by Chlorophyll is stored in the form of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The rest is used to turn Carbon Dioxide into organic compounds by a sequence of reactions called the Calvin Cycle. Combining Carbon Dioxide and Water, the Calvin Cycle produces Oxygen and Sugars. Plants thus can produce their own food, and become food for us, while also replenishing the Oxygen we breathe and using up the Carbon Dioxide we exhale. This is the natural symbiotic relationship of animals to plants.

Photosynthesis

God has set a natural order into our world where all things work together. The fall of man corrupted that perfect natural order but the foundation is still there and can be discovered in Creation if we just open our eyes to see.

1 Samuel 2:8 (NLT) - He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the LORD's, and he has set the world in order.