An earlier essay of mine discussed the synthesis and function of anthocyanins (see the archive section of my fall color page: ). However, in this essay, we will concentrate solely on the yellow and orange pigments. When a tree produces a deep orange-red color, it might also be synthesizing anthocyanins, which are a different class of compound and which provide the classic red to purple color in fall leaves. During the summer, these pigments were masked by the chlorophyll.
Yellow and Orange Colors are Revealed When the Chlorophyll DegradesĪs I have noted in several previous essays, the yellow and orange colors in leaves are revealed when chlorophyll, the pigment responsible for making leaves appear green, is lost from the leaf. Why do these trees show these particular fall colors? What pigments provide those colors, and why do we only see them in the fall? These and the answers to other questions are addressed below.
#HIDDEN COLORS FULL FULL#
The pictures below were taken by myself on October 23rd of this year of a sugar maple in Boone and you can see that the shaded leaves were yellow, while those exposed to full sun were orange-red. For many sugar maples, that yellow soon gives way to a fiery orange, especially in those leaves that receive the most sunlight. Some Tree Species Always Have Yellow to Orange Leaves in the FallĮach fall, the leaves of sugar and striped maples, hickories, beeches, birches, tulip poplars all turn a brilliant yellow color. It focuses on the simple question of why some turn yellow and orange before they fall off and die. In fact, when you think about in the larger context, every essay about fall colors is about death in some form. But even without the philosophical implications, we can learn much about life by studying death. That there can be such joy in celebrating the death of something is a curious aspect of life worthy of a philosopher's attention. It's sometimes hard to remember that the beauty we see in fall colors is the result of the death of a tree's leaves.
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