One of the mysteries of life - why only some leaves turn red and others don't
This wonderful information about why leaves turn color in the Fall comes to us from National Public Radio.
According to the NPR article, "Every autumn, trees break down the green chlorophyll in their leaves, so that they can recover precious nitrogen before the leaves fall. (That nitrogen is necessary for photosynthesis, as well as building proteins and DNA.) The loss of this chlorophyll exposes yellow pigments that have been there in the leaves all along. That makes yellow leaves easy to explain."
"But the red color is different. It comes from brand-new chemicals that are generated just days before a leaf plunges to the ground. The red was not there beforehand, or you would have seen it, because the leaf would have been purple. Because green plus red equals purple," says the article.
So why are trees bothering to create costly red pigments in leaves that are almost done for? Read the full article here.
According to the NPR article, "Every autumn, trees break down the green chlorophyll in their leaves, so that they can recover precious nitrogen before the leaves fall. (That nitrogen is necessary for photosynthesis, as well as building proteins and DNA.) The loss of this chlorophyll exposes yellow pigments that have been there in the leaves all along. That makes yellow leaves easy to explain."
"But the red color is different. It comes from brand-new chemicals that are generated just days before a leaf plunges to the ground. The red was not there beforehand, or you would have seen it, because the leaf would have been purple. Because green plus red equals purple," says the article.
So why are trees bothering to create costly red pigments in leaves that are almost done for? Read the full article here.