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Re: Tt: fall colors

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There are some junipers which turn red purple in the winter; Andorra
juniper for one. I would imagine the red pigments are complex sugars just
as with deciduous tree leaves. Horse sugar, <underline>Symplocos
tinctoria</underline>, a semi-evergreen native shrub in my state (NC),
has leaves which redden considerably in the winter. The evergreen
<underline>Pieris</underline> also reddens in the winter. Now that I
think of it, doesn't <underline>Nandina</underline>?  


Also, many evergreen leaves "turn" yellow when they are getting old and
ready to be dropped. As with deciduous tree leaves that turn yellow,
actually what is happening is that the loss of green chlorophyll unmasks
the yellow of the leaf. You will note that there are many variegated
evergreens with yellow coloration year round.



At 08:44 PM 9/29/97 -0700, you wrote:

>
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>I am not a forester, although I recently joined the staff of a
nonprofit

>organization that supports urban and community forestry.  Recently I
was

>asked to speak to kindergarteners about fall colors.  To prepare, I
read

>as much as possible about why trees change color in fall (anthocyanins

>etc.) I was afraid the students would ask me about conifers as well!

>Began wondering myself why "evergreens" do not change color. Do they

>continue food production in fall and winter? If not, why isn't

>chlorophyll absorbed (sic) as in deciduous trees so that the various

>reds, yellows and oranges are seen? :-)

>thanks for any light you can shed on this for me - Sue Nickler, Forest

>ReLeaf of Missouri - moreleaf@anet-stl.com

>PS - from Maryland myself and enjoy reading about urban forestry in

>Baltimore area. Keep up the good work!

>

>

Shaub Dunkley

2608 University Dr.

Durham NC 27707-2862

sdunkley@mindspring.com


I like calling North Carolina home!

	Hope our children do!	

	Esse quam videri.
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