Most of us look about and enjoy the marvels of God’s creation — the beauty of a rainbow, the brilliance of fall leaves, a door knob. “A doorknob?! What does that have to do with this?” (Hold the question for a few paragraphs.)

You owe your life to the unpretentious leaf. It converts the earth’s raw materials into the stuff of life called food. In some plants, these raw materials must travel long distances from roots to leaves. The best man can do with suction pumps relying on atmospheric pressure is only 33 feet. A giant sequoia suctions water and minerals from far below the surface upward well over 450 feet!

You owe your life to the little leaf. It transforms carbon dioxide into the breath of life called oxygen. It relies on microscopic stomata which line its bottom side and of which it may have as many as 35,000…per square inch. These stomata are not simple mini-holes in the leaf’s surface; they are openings which open and close! Guard cells control each stoma to regulate the intake and output of carbon dioxide, oxygen and water vapor.

In the fall, the leaf’s life cycle winds down with a blazing contribution to nature’s beauty. How can something so green turn so yellow or red or purple? Our leaf has pigments in it — yellow (carotene and xanthophyll), red and purple (anthocyanins), and green (food-making chlorophyll). Chlorophyll is more abundant, masking the other pigments. However, with the cessation of food-making, chlorophyll dies and the other colors shine through. The amount of sugar in the leaf and the amount of sunlight striking its anthocyanin affect just how much purple and red will develop. Now you know why sugar maple trees turn such gorgeous red in autumn.

(Wondering about the doorknob? I would be too! Find out by reading the rest here: God’s Marvelous Creation.)