Why are the fall colors in America more intense than in most europeen countries, i.e. Germany?

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I live in Germany but used to visit the US frequently. The fall colors in the US always impressed me. I mean, obviously we have fall colors in Germany too. But they don’t compare, they seem more faded.

Edit: Talking about the trees! Didn’t specify, sorry!

In: Biology

14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

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Anonymous 0 Comments

In Finland we have amazing fall colors on our trees so this is not North America thing only. [Here’s a finnish website which has some beautiful pictures of Finland in autumn](https://www.karjalainen.fi/uutiset/uutis-alueet/maakunta/item/117658)

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think it’s climate. New England and eastern Canada (where I live) have a Continental climate with a very pronounced summer and winter. As a side effect autumn is compressed and all the trees change at the same time. Right now it’s amazing, but in a few weeks it will be over. When I lived in the UK individual trees looked great but the colour change was spread out from September to Christmas so you never had all the trees in colour at the same time.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The US has 2 brilliant fall trees not native to Europe: the sugar maple ( *Acer saccharum)* and the black gum (*Nyssa Sylvatica)* that provide gorgeous colors of red and orange that make New England so famous. The red maple (*Acer Rubrum*) also provides brilliant reds to the landscape.

The Norway maple (*Acer platanoides)* turns a lovely amber, but is not as bright. Oak trees with a few exceptions turn brown and are not as attractive. In the European cities, the London planetree (*Platanus x acerifolia)* dominates. Its leaves turn brown and papery in the fall.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I feel you. Here in the UK autumn is grey and dull. The question has been adequately answered but I would also argue that a slight influence is the wetter weather here in this northerly part of Europe. It’s rare to see our fall foliage dry and crisp like it so often is in parts of the US.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I live in the blue ridge mountains and we’re supposed to have great colors this year. It has to do with the types of trees that are native to this area and the weather that year. Trees need to have low enough temperatures to stop making chlorophyll and reveal beautiful colors. Too late in the year or too cold or too moist or too dry and they just shrivel and fall off.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Climate and biodiversity. The majority of the U.S. is in the “sweet spot” for Autumn foliage weather, and our forests feature a *lot more* variety of species than Europe. This means our color change season is prolonged *and* we have a lot more different trees and plants to show off their unique colors.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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