I’ve seen most of the trees (at least in Canada) change color in autumn to an orangey, I’ve heard it has to do with better absorption of sunlight waves that change during this time of the year.
But why they begin to change from top to bottom? I would think the inner ones or lowest ones would change first since they have less access to sunlight than the top ones.
In: 38
The leaves change colour because the tree is reabsorbing the green chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is hard to produce for a tree, so instead of having to make it new in spring it just stores it in the trunk so it can safely lose the leaves over autumn and winter.
The remaining colours in the leaves are what the actual tissue in the leaf looks like without the chlorophyll saturating every cell.
The reason it tends to happen from one direction (top to bottom, side to side, etc) is due to a number of factors. Sap flow, majority light facing, etc.
Latest Answers