Painted Leaves

October is the month of painted leaves …

                                                Henry David Thoreau

While not literally true, Henry’s concept was certainly true. As the shortening days cause the formation of a corky abscission layer where leaves’ petioles join the twig, the leaves’ green pigment (chlorophyll) dies revealing pigments that were there all along – except for the red pigments which form as the chlorophyll breaks down.

The brightest autumn colors occur when dry, sunny days are followed by cool, dry nights. But each species of tree has it’s own schedule and some individual trees deviate from the schedule. By early-November most trees are bare of leaves, the exceptions being young oaks and beech which often hold their brown and shrivelled leaves until early spring. 

Bryan Pfeiffer, a biologist in Vermont estimates that "125 trillion leaves drop from hardwood trees in Vermont each autumn, weighing about 100 billion metric tons." Each year leaves turn color and fall throughout the northeastern and northcentral U. S. and adjacent Canada, enjoy –

Although the leaves’ colors this year weren’t as spectacular as in previous years, the were still absolutely beautiful. Soon the painted leaves will fall and the show will be over until next fall, so enjoy them before they’re gone.