Have you ever thought why leaves change their color during fall from green to orange?
Today, we’ll talk about why leaves change their color during fall.
The major thing that triggers the changing colors of leaves is the length of the day. Other things like moisture and temperature also play an essential role. In extremely hot summer, there could be a possible delay in leaves changing their colors. This has not been completely understood by science yet, but one reason for this could be the tree not being able to make as much food as needed to store up for the winter weather. In these scenarios, the tree might be trying to push a little more for making food for the winter before shedding the leaves. Temperatures also have a vital role in giving leaves a vivid color.
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
There are three major things responsible for giving leaves their color during the fall. Those three things are known as Chlorophyll (important for photosynthesis), carotenoids (such as xanthophylls and carotene and they’re responsible for orange and yellow colors), and anthocyanins(responsible for red and purple colors).
Chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in leaves during the summer time. But the Chlorophyll covers up the carotenoids, that is the reason why we see leaves in mostly green color rather than yellow or orange. On the other hand, anthocyanins are a result of glucose trapped in the veins of leaves. This glucose breaks down in direct sunlight and therefore produces the red and purple color in leaves.
During summers, trees are continuously producing Chlorophyll to help in glucose production, food for the tree. Once the day length starts to decrease, the tree gradually starts to lower chlorophyll production, and leaves vein slows closes off. When all this happens, all that’s left in a leaf is carotenoids and anthocyanins, depending on the species.
We hope you liked reading through this wonderful piece of information. Have a great day ahead!
