Skip to main content

BLOG #7 - WHY DO LEAVES CHANGE COLOR ?

As days grow shorter and temperature cooler, decidious trees prepare for winter dormancy. Lacking sufficient light and water, photosynthesis shuts down and trees must live off food stored during the growing season.
Leaves in Autumn
Trees in Autumn
               In spring, leaves lay the ground work for their demise. A special layer of cells form at the base of each leaf called the abscission or the separation layer. Its work is to transport water to the leaf and take food created from photosynthesis, back to the tree. In autumn, the cells of this layer begin to swell and the bottom of this layer forms a corklike substance that eventually cuts off all transfer between the leaf and the tree. Meanwhile, the top of the layer begins to disintegrate, making it easy for the leaf to detach. As photosynthesis ceases, the leaves lose their chlorophyll, which gives them their green color. Without chlorophyll, other colors emerge.
               Yellow and orange, for example, are normally  present in the leaves but are overshadowed by the chlorophyll. Maple-leaf red occurs because glucose remains when photosynthesis shuts down. Drab-oak brown represents waste left in the leaves.
Maple leaf in Autumn

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BLOG #1 - THE BIG BANG - COSMIC BEGINNINGS

Accepted astrophysical theories posit that at one point there was nothing: no stars, planets or galaxies - not even the space itself. The matter that makes up everything that now exists was concentrated in a single, extremely dense point known as a singularity. The force of gravity in a singularity is so great that the fabric of space time curves in on itself. In an instant known as the big bang, however, the contents of the primordial singularity escaped - and formed the universe.                The big bang is a catchy shorthand for a complex astrophysical theory, backed up with sophisticated calculations. The term was coined in the 1950s by British astronomer Fred Boyle, a proponent of a theory of the universe as a steady state. In fact, Boyle used the term derisively. Though the name stuck, it gives a false impression, making it seem as though the event that unleashed all the energy of the universe almost 14 billion years ago was an e...

Questions that question YOU from YOU - PART 1

Sometimes we get too caught up in our every day lives that we tend to forget one of our most basic instincts as humans — to question. And our lives have indeed become so easy and so simple, that we never get curious anymore. Thanks to the tech, obviously. After all, we are i the 21st century. So, in this piece for you, I've got some questions to make you spark the plugs into your grey matter.(not the GRAY matter,  its the grey matter) Now what's the grey matter first ? Grey  matter  contains most of the brain's neuronal cell bodies. The grey  matter  includes regions of the brain involved in muscle control, and sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making, and self-control. Enough for the intro, I guess. So, here are the questions. Q. Why do we all FEAR death ? Q. What is REALITY ? Q. Is our SOCIETY teaching us the WRONG things ? Q. Is TIME only a concept made by humans ? Is it something we RESTRICT ourselves with ? Q....

Some Special(yet some common) Things to START BELIEVING in yourself AGAIN - PART 2

  ....  to be continued. Thank you for your love for the part 1 of the blog, here's the second part of the series. 4) FIND and OPEN your HEART While step 3 is about acknowledging and accepting the pain, step 4 is about reconciling with a cold and unopened heart. Ask yourself this one question: do you fully love yourself ? NO !!  No need to be shocked. It's very common for all of us in this hectic world. So, accepting your flaws and your fault is one thing, but loving a person who can have your thoughts, your emotions and most importantly your mistakes? That's a completely higher level of self-love. That's something most of us miss today. What to do now ? Question yourself. Discover your life story. Trace your path way back from your childhood to the person you are now.  Understand yourself in the most intimate way ever possible, and find a reason for that damn every negative emotion, every shameful act, every word or mistake you regret even today. In this journey of ...