A Plea for Plants
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae, The
Green Kingdom. Plants have been around for a very long time. The plants
first appeared about 443 million years ago. About 360 million years
ago, there were a wide variety of shapes and sizes of plants around,
including tiny creeping plants and tall forest trees.
Plants use chlorophyll to capture light energy, which fuels the
manufacture of food—sugar, starch, and other carbohydrates. Without
these food sources, most life on earth would be impossible.
Plants are paying their contribution to the Beaty of the Nature
Another important contribution of plants is their shaping of the
environment. Think of a place without plants. It is the plants which
produce and maintain the terrestrial environment as we know it.
Although we are surrounded by plants all our lives, most of us never
realize just how alien they are. From the way they manufacture their
food to the ways in which they respond to the environment, plants are
quite different from animals.
Plants provide nourishment for our bodies and souls. With the help of
protists and fungi, plants provide the oxygen we breathe and the food
that sustains us – either directly or indirectly, by feeding other
animals. This is essential for our survival. Plants provide shade over
our heads and cool carpets under our feet while surrounding us with
beautiful colors and marking the change of seasons.
People and Plants
Plants also provide fibers for clothing, materials for buildings, and
chemicals for medicines. The value of these tangible products can be
easily appreciated. What is not so well known is that plants also
produce a wide range of intangible effects on people. For example,
plants calm us, reduce stress, increase pain tolerance, and speed
recovery from illnesses. They also improve mental functioning in
children and reduce domestic violence. In short, plants make us better,
more civil people.
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