Gender bender ginger flower changes sex around high noon, as discovered by Chinese scientists who studied the tropical ginger flower Alpinia kwangsiensis and reported their findings in Nature vol. 410, p432, 22 March 2001. Each day the plant produces new flowers that only last for one day. Like most flowers these have both male and female parts but the plant does not fertilise itself. To avoid self-pollination some ginger plants start the day with the male parts of their flowers functioning and accessible to insects and others with the female parts ready for work. Around 11.30am the flowers begin to change shape so that the opposite sex becomes active and receptive to insects. The changeover takes a couple of hours so by mid-afternoon the flowers that started out as females are now males and vice versa.
Editorial Comment: The more we learn about pollination the more evidence of design and forward planning we find. However, gender bending is strictly for flowers, fish, worms, snails and other forms of life, which are designed to function this way. When God made man in His image he made them as separate sexes, male and female. Man was made to please God by doing things God’s way. It is a personal insult to God to despise or try to change what He said was very good. (Ref. Flowers, sex, design)