A NOTEBOOK AMONGST THE LEAVES

The urge to throw a notebook into the leaves was just too great! I mean… just look at those beautiful colors! And then instantly, my scattered brain kicks in, moves past the fact that the colors are outstanding, and directly to the thought “How are those brilliant colors created?” Then ensues the thought “I know I learned this once upon a time. It’s something about chlorophyll, maybe?” After beating myself up for an undisclosed amount of time, the answer to the mystery finally drove me insane…so I Google it. If I have now caused YOU to anguish over the same scientific question, I totally apologize. To save you from doing the same search of shame I did, I have included the answer to the leaf conundrum below.

What Causes Leaves to Turn Different Colors?

Well, chlorophyll was part of the story, so I guess I was partially correct. Chlorophyll is actually what causes leaves to be green. However, that has nothing to do with why the leaves are bright yellow, orange, red and purple. It turns out that as the chlorophyll breaks down in the leaf, the green color vanishes and it allows the other pigment colors present to show through. Pretty cool right? For your added enjoyment, I have attached a chart so if you really want to geek out and know which pigment is responsible for which leaf color you can. What can I say…the teacher in me always seems to slip out. A big thanks to Sciencenotes.org for restoring my sanity!