Trees exist on water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air. Sunlight is used to help the tree turn these two elements into oxygen and glucose. This process is called photosynthesis. Oxygen is a gas used for breathing. Glucose is a sugar plants use as food for growth and energy. Chlorophyll is a chemical that helps photosynthesis take place. Chlorophyll is also what gives pants their green color.
Knowing these facts is helpful in understanding why the leaves become colorful. With the coming of Autumn, daylight becomes shorter. This signals the trees that winter is coming and to begin to prepare for it. During the winter, photosynthesis cannot continue because there isn't enough light or water in which it needs to function. This means the trees must now live off the food they stored up during the summer. The green chlorophyll begins to disappear from the leaves as the trees use up their stored food. As this happens, the orange and yellow colors appear. Although these colors were in the leaves before this process, they were covered by the chlorophyll. The red and brown colors come from glucose or wastes left in the leaves.
As the trees are dormant, meaning their growth is temporally stopped, they have the capability to conserve energy. "New life" returns in the spring as daylight gets longer and provides the once again needed environment for the tree's growth and energy.
Quotes:
"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." ~ Albert Camus
"For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad." ~ Edwin Way Teale
"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." ~ Stanley Horowitz
"October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter." ~ Nova Bair
Become a Fan of Newby Realty on Facebook
Newby Realty Website: http://www.newbyrealty.com/
0 comments:
Post a Comment