How did plants learn to prepare so efficiently for winter? Was it chance—or was it programmed into them by their Creator from the beginning? (Genesis 1:11–12; Psalm 104:24). The same God who said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind,” also gave every green thing its seasons, cycles, and secrets. With the same precision that brought life in April, God designed a rest in the autumn.
The underground activity, the rising of the sap, and the swelling of the buds, which prepare for the coming of spring, are not more interesting or efficient than is the manner in which plants shed their leaves, distribute their seed, and withdraw sap from the tender parts in preparation for winter.
Nature keeps time by heaven’s design. In spite of the fact that temperatures in the temperate zones in the autumn are in many places higher than in the spring, the plant processes of the two seasons are markedly different.
Have you ever thought how marvelously coordinated are the processes represented in the shedding of leaves by trees? Pull off a leaf in mid-season, and you leave a raw wound; but when the plant drops its leaves in due season, no wounds exist. This is due primarily to the fact that even while the leaves are in full vigor, the tree prepares to throw them off when their work is finished.
At the spot where the leaf joins the twig, a layer of cells quietly forms. This layer, called the “abscission zone,” acts like a gate—strong in season but designed to close when the time comes. When autumn arrives, that gate seals the branch, and the leaf falls harmlessly away. No sap escapes. No sore spot remains. The leaf’s work is finished, and the tree rests — whole and unharmed.
This preparation for dropping leaves at the right time begins almost as soon as the leaf is fully mature. Quite early in the history of the leaf, a special arrangement of cells is formed where the leaf is attached to the stem, so when the leaf is dropped, there is no open or exposed surface.
There are few more beautifully or intelligently contrived processes in the natural world than this fall of the leaf with which the tree passes into its winter rest. It whispers of a Creator who “has done all things well” (Mark 7:37).
—E. H. Ijams (1886–1982), The Reality of GOD, pp. 53–54
“Let the earth bring forth…” – Genesis 1:11
