Fall's Fall
Posted by Aria Srinivasan on February 2, 2005
Q: My teacher told me that leaves change color because chlorophyl breaks down and you are then able to see more pigments and not just the green ones. It looks as though you are saying this may not be correct. What do you think?
Aria
A: Your teacher is correct for some leaves. As the chlorophyll breaks down in fall on certain kinds of plants, the underlying colors of the leaf are able to show through and you now see them - they were masked by the chlorophyll before.
Other kinds of leaves however, actually change their color over time due to chemical changes that take place in fall and are not simply the result of the chlorophyll being removed.
This whole process is quite complicated and scientists are still trying to work out details of the process.
John Wiessinger ( February 4, 2005)