SultanElliott, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons / Cropped

God’s Tiny Doors: Plant Stomata Fingerprints

by Dr. Jennifer Hall Rivera on Jun 04, 2026

Did you know that plants need to breathe too? God created plants with hundreds of tiny doors on every leaf. Scientists call each of these tiny door openings a stoma, and a group of them is called stomata. Stomata allow the plant to breathe through a process called photosynthesis. The arrangement, or pattern, of the stomata on the leaf varies between many plants. The unique stomata pattern is considered a fingerprint or “footprint” in some plant species1 and helps scientists to identify and classify plants. Our Creator God established order and design throughout the entire universe.

Do you have a question about fingerprints or forensic science? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today. Dr. Rivera might answer your question on her blog, “Ask a Forensic Scientist.”

What Are Stomata?

Stomata are microscopic openings, or pores, found mostly on the underside of leaves. There are some exceptions, such as desert and water plants, in which the stomata are located on the tops of leaves. Scientists call the tiny doors stomata because stoma is the Greek word (στόμα) for mouth.

Leaf stomata and guard cells

Emilio Ermini, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Each stoma is controlled by two guard cells, like sentries guarding a door, that control when the stoma opens and closes. These guard cells allow gases and water to be exchanged between the outside environment and inside the leaf. A single leaf can have thousands of stomata!2

What Is the Relationship Between Guard Cells and Photosynthesis?

The guard cells swell with water and open the stomata during the day. This is when the plant needs to allow for CO₂ (carbon dioxide) to enter the leaf for photosynthesis. Photosynthesis uses sunlight, water, and CO₂ to produce energy. At night, the guard cells close the stomata to conserve gas and water inside the leaves.

Stoma diagram

Ali Zifan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Many desert plants do the opposite. They open their stomata at night and close them during the day when it is dry and hot.3 This complex process reflects the amazing design God placed in all living things. The guard cells know exactly when to open and close, and that's not an accident! Proverbs 16:4 reminds us that “the Lord has made everything for its purpose.”

How Are Stomata Patterns like a Fingerprint?

Just like the details in human fingerprints, stomata patterns assist botanists in identifying plant species. Scientists can identify a plant just by looking at its stomata pattern under a microscope.4 And these patterns look the same between fossil specimens and their living specimens today. This is a problem for evolutionists, as they expect to see change over millions of years, but it is not there.5 Starting with the Bible, we would expect to see similarities between stomata in the fossil record and living examples today. God created plants according to their kind, and many plants were fossilized during the global flood about 4,500 years ago.

God’s Amazing Design

God loves his creation so much that he gave plants special identification in their leaf stomata patterns. God is a God of order, and stomata reflect detail, intentional design, and an orderly system. Next time you hold a leaf, remember there are thousands of little “doors” on it that God designed.

Want to Look at Stomata? Mini Lab

Materials:

  • Clear nail polish
  • Clear tape
  • Microscope
  • Microscope slides

Procedure:

  1. Collect a leaf from 2–3 different plants. (Spinach is a good choice for one of them.)
  2. Paint a 1-inch square section of clear nail polish on the underside of each leaf. Let it dry.
  3. Place clear tape over the nail polish on each leaf and gently press.
  4. Remove the tape from the leaves, which gives a stomata impression.
  5. Fix each piece of tape to a microscope slide.
  6. Focus your first slide under the microscope, starting with the lowest setting. Increase your microscope’s magnification once you have a good view of the stomata. Repeat for both/all slides.
  7. Observe, sketch, and count the stomata for each type of leaf.6

Footnotes

  1. Biplob Dey et al., “Automated Plant Species Identification from the Stomata Images Using Deep Neural Network: A Study of Selected Mangrove and Freshwater Swamp Forest Tree Species of Bangladesh,” Ecological Informatics 75 (July 2023): 102128, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2023.102128.
  2. Jack Lasky, “Stomate (Stoma),” EBSCO Research Starters: Anatomy and Physiology (EBSCO Publishing, 2024), https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/anatomy-and-physiology/stomate-stoma.
  3. Joon Sang Lee, “Stomatal Opening Mechanism of CAM Plants,” Journal of Plant Biology 53, 19–23 (February 2010), https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12374-010-9097-8.
  4. Dey et al., “Automated Plant Species Identification,” 102128; Tracy Lawson and Andrew D.B. Leakey, “Stomata: Custodians of Leaf Gaseous Exchange,” Journal of Experimental Botany 75, no. 21 (November 2024): 6677–6682. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae425.
  5. Ilana Shtein et al., “Stomatal Cell Wall Composition: Distinctive Structural Patterns Associated with Different Phylogenetic Groups,” Annals of Botany 119, no. 6 (April 2017): 1021–1033, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcw275.
  6. Education.com, “Comparing Leaf Stomata,” accessed May 19, 2026, https://www.education.com/activity/article/comparing-leaf-stomata/.

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