An Intelligent Plant
From Creation Moments on Oneplace.com by Ian T. Taylor & Mark W. Cadwallader
April 23, 2026 · 2 min
About this episode
The episode discusses how the gilia flower adapts its color to attract both hummingbirds and moths for pollination, highlighting the idea of intelligent design.
Scientists have known for some time that hummingbirds prefer bright-colored flowers. On the other hand, all of us know that white is most easily seen at night. That means that moths that pollinate flowers will more easily find white flowers. The question is, what is a flower to do when it is pollinated by hummingbirds during part of its flowering season and by night-flying moths later in its flowering season?That’s the problem faced by a flowering plant called the gilia. Hummingbirds arrive to pollinate the flowers in mid-July. However, they leave in late August as the weather cools. Also in late August, the night-flying hawk moth arrives to begin pollinating the flower. This arrangement continues until late September. To attract both hummingbirds and moths during its long flowering season, the gilia provides bright red flowers, favored by the hummingbirds, until late August. Then it offers white flowers to attract the hawk moths.Evolutionary scientists call this an example of evolutionary strategy. Think about that for a moment. How would a flower know what color it is? How would it know which colors are preferred by hummingbirds and which are preferred by moths? A flower could…
People in this episode
Hosts: Ian T. Taylor, Mark W. Cadwallader
Topics covered
- pollination
- flower adaptation
- intelligent design
- hummingbirds
- moths
- evolutionary strategy
Keywords
- gilia
- pollination
- hummingbirds
- moths
- intelligent design
- evolutionary strategy
- flower color
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: evolutionary scientists
Books & works: Matthew 6:27
Places: gilia
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