Picture (274x63, 4.4Kb)

What makes the fall color of leaves?

 Fall colored leaves    Pigments produced in the leaf make the colors change in the fall.  In the summer the predominant pigment in leaves is chlorophyll which overpowers the others with its intense green.  To prepare for winter many trees cut off fresh sap from the leaves in the fall.  Without sap the pigments disappear. Chlorophyll is the most unstable pigment and
disappears first.  After that the other two, xanthophyll, a yellow pigment, and carotene, an orange or red pigment, color the leaf.  The abundance of each pigment, and therefore the color, vary with each species.

 

What leaves turn what colors in the fall?

Sugar maple leaves  Red maple leaves  Ash leaves  Oak leaves
Tree Color Tree Color
Sugar Maple, Sumac red and orange Oak, Beech, Larch, Elm, Hickory, Sycamore tan or brown
Red Maple, Dogwood, Sassafras dark, rich red Locust retains its green until the leaves drop
Poplar, Birch, Willow yellow Black Walnut, Butternut drop leaves so fast they don�t have time to turn
Ash plum purple

 

Picture (25x25, 193 bytes)        Picture (25x25, 184 bytes)

Home  |  Field Trips  |  Issues  |  Tree Key  |  Treevia  |  About Forestree