Why Trees Turn Color

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Over lunch yesterday, I happened to read the following informative article in the "Third Section" of the September 13, 2008, edition of the Dairy Star newspaper, published in Sauk Center, Minnesota (no author's name is given):

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Why Trees Turn Color in Autumn

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The areas famous for fall coloration because of deciduous tree are well-known. New England, the mountains of New York, Pennsylvania, and the Rockies all have their claim to fame for sometimes breathtaking colors. As overwhelming as they may appear when one is taking in these majestic colors, only 14 percent of the world's forests are temperate deciduous forests with a habit of giving us brilliant fall colorations.

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In regions where sugar maples abound, such as New England, the red leaf displays dominate, but are intermingled with the bright yellows of aspen, beech, and birch trees. In spite of the striking beauty that we enjoy, Mother Nature doesn't do it for our benefit because these hues of red, yellow, gold and brown represent more than just a pleasing experience for humans.

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"Shortly after peaking in color intensity, the leaves abscise, or fall, to the earth, " says Ron Smith, North Dakota State University Extension Service horticulturist. "The move is designed to help conserve the energy balance in the trees. This reduces and balances the respiration rate of the tree to approximate the lowered rate of photosynthesis that takes place during our winter months."

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What is it that triggers this coloring to take place in certain tree species? Many think it may be initiated by a touch from Jack Frost, but in reality, the colors we enjoy can be witnessed only on living, senescing trees. If Jack Frost arrives too early in the fall, there will be no fall colors, just dull browns because of the "killing frost".

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"What triggers these events is a specific combination of shorter days and cooler temperatures in autumn in a specific locale that is sensed by plant receptors, which results in hormone production", Smith says. "This, in turn, initiates leaf senescence. This specificity to a narrow climatic zone is important for us to understand because it is generally effective within 130 miles north or south of the origin. For example, this is why a red maple that looks great in Ames, Iowa, is mediocre in Fargo. Or, at worst, has the leaves nipped by a hard frost before it has a chance to senesce sufficiently."

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Typically, we see reds, yellows, and oranges in our region of the country. Carotenoid pigments are unmasked during leaf senescence (leaf aging). This gives the viewer the yellow colors we see in the common Ohio buckeye, birch, and ash trees.

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"The favorite color for most observers is the red that comes from anthocyanin pigments", Smith says. "Red and sugar maples, along with sumac shrubs, are the sources in our region for this color. Unlike other pigments, anthocyanins are not commonly present in leaves until autumn coloration begins. There are exceptions we all know about, such as the red-leafed chokecherry and the crimson King Norway maple. Trees lacking the genes for red color from anthocyanins instead will develop yellow and brown shades in autumn."

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Fall weather favoring bright red autumn leaf colors are warm, sunny days followed by cool, but not freezing, nights. Rainy or cloudy days, with reduced sunlight near the time of peak coloration, decrease the intensity of the reddish autumn colors by limiting photosynthesis and the sugars available for anthocyanin production.

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I learned new info from this article........that red-colored leaves indicate the presence of a particular pigment, which is produced under certain weather conditions-----warm, sunny days and cool, but not freezing nights. And, truly, that is the type of weather we've been having lately.......hence, all the red leaves in Iowa!! Its nifty to know this explanation, I think! And, it mentioned that plants have hormones whose production is regulated by the weather, too. Just so very interesting.......all this stuff going on in plants around us and we don't even realize it!

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Ok, that's your horticulture or botany lesson for the day. Be sure to study for the test coming up tomorrow.......you will definitely need to know how to spell anthocyanin.......NOT!!

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(The sumac photo was taken last Sunday, near Clermont, Iowa.)

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Popcorn Tree

Don't you hate it when people come by and strew popcorn all over your sidewalk and lawn!! I mean.......really........don't folks have anything better to do!!

Oh, but you aren't a bit fooled.........you know this littered scene is evidence of a Catalpa tree lurking overhead......right?!


This seemingly out-of-place-for-Iowa flowering tree has been shading my car each morning this week while I'm helping at Vacation Bible School.

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When I was a little bitty kid we had two big, tall Catalpa trees in our front yard, but by the time I was six or so, the trees had been cut down.........'cuz they were too "messy", according to my parents. The tree shown in these photos is very tall, too, and you can see the oddly large leaves-----large for a tree here in the north, anyway. It also boasts curly branches here and there. All in all, its quite a unique and interesting tree......but, I'm happy its not in my yard!!

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Happy Thursday! (Only one more day of VBS.......hooray!!.......OK, I'll admit it...... its been enjoyable, but I'm truly ready for it to be over with.)

SHADE in the Shade

The saying goes that "the road to a friend's house is never long", and I do tend to believe that is the truth. In my case, it can also be said that the road to a cemetery is never long, for all my life, I've lived less than a mile from an old cemetery.

Saturday, I left home to go to friend's house, and as I turned the corner near our farm, the gorgeous flowering trees in the nearby cemetery were clamoring for attention, prompting me to make a mental note to stop there later to take some pictures.

My friend and I went together to visit another friend of ours whose mother is very ill with metatastic brain cancer. (I've known these two friends since kindergarten.) We went to the farm where the mother lives, as her daughter was there caring for her on Saturday. I wasn't sure what to expect, but there was no need to worry, for my friend's mother was sitting on the sofa and seemed comfortable and cheerful, although not quite with-it, mentally. It was a pleasant visit; the woman's family is taking very good care of her.

On my way home, then, I stopped at the cemetery. Mostly, I was concentrating on the beautifully blooming trees, but then noticed something rather special.........this shaded tombstone engraved with the name "SHADE"! (I should have cropped the photo differently, but click on it, if you wish, to see the name better.) The SHADE family resting in the shade.

I've walked through this cemetery a handful of times over the years, mostly to browse for ancestors' graves-------I have a set of great-greatgrandparents buried here-------but I don't recall taking notice of this name SHADE before. There are no people by that name living around here, and I took a look in several phone books, also finding no one by the last name of SHADE. The family name must have died out in this area.

Near the large SHADE tombstone was this little, old one.......Samuel W.G., son of John & Hannah SHADE, died May 31, 1884, aged 10 months. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday), I went back to try and read the inscription etched at the bottom: "Sleep on, dear......God called thee home......He thought it best", were the words that could be deciphered without much trouble.
Obviously, a cemetery is a quiet, peaceful place to spend time in, and I thoroughly enjoyed my interlude there on this sunny Sunday afternoon. A very friendly cat showed up and followed me around amongst the tombstones, managing also to get into several photos! As I roamed around, more and more interesting things became apparent, and I hope to fit some of these tidbits into blog posts as Memorial Day approaches.

Birds & Bees of Trees

Sorry, I'm rather hung up on this red-budded tree today. After a short search on Google, I think the tree might possibly be a picea rubens, AKA "Red Spruce" , native to eastern North America, and the wood of which has been traditionally used for making guitars.
The Red Spruce tree is (as are all conifers, I assume) "monoecious", meaning it contains both stamens and pistils as separate flowers on the same plant, meaning it can reproduce on its own. (Surely, you remember the words "stamens" and "pistils" from science classes when you were a kid!) If I read the info correctly, the red pendant bud-like flowers are the males, and the green ones are the females. Right now, a fine dust, which is the pollen, I presume, billows from the male buds when the branches are shaken.

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Since I was in the conifer-observing mood today, I had to snap a few photos of other evergreen trees around our yard.

Here below is a Colorado Blue Spruce, I think:

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We have a windbreak row of the pine trees whose buds and cones are shown below. They sigh beautifully in the breezes, providing good reason to open the windows of our house........as did Heidi in the famous story.......she loved the sound of the pine trees around her grandpa's cottage.

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And this final photo shows the buds on a soft-needled pine tree.......one of several white pines we dug up and moved from a Christmas tree farm in our area a few years ago. The owner needed to get rid of trees that were growing too large to sell at holiday time.

Rosy Pine Cone Buds

Right now, we have one evergreen tree which looks like this:

It is covered in these rosy-colored buds which will form into pine cones. I'm thinking this tree is a Black Hills Spruce, but we have many trees of that variey whose buds are not rosy-looking, so who knows. If I remember correctly, I bought this tree on clearance at Walmart for $2 many years ago when one of our kids was little and in a stroller. My grandma was along on that shopping trip, too. Grandma passed away in 1991, meaning this tree was purchased several years before that.
Honestly, I'm not sure where my mind has been sometimes over the years, for I don't recall seeing these colorful pine buds in previous springs. Other bloggers have said the following, and I will echo it..........getting into the habit of taking pictures makes a person more observant and aware of details in the surroundings. Not that there's anything particularly great about doing that, but it does seem to make daily life a bit more fun, in my opinion. There's an excited hint of anticipation that underlies each step you take, as you wonder what interesting thing will show up next. At least, that is how it seems to work for me!

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Enjoy your day today and notice the little details around you!!!