Emily Kwong

You know, the result of colder days, trees preparing for winter, and in some, their chlorophyll, the green pigment, is breaking down.

And instead of green, we're seeing these amazing colors, yellow, orange, and red.

Colors you might tuck into a home decoration.

Along with some of those mutant squash you get at the farmer's market, the really warty ones.

Hey, Nell.

Hey.

That's NPR's Nell Greenfield-Boyce.

And Nell, from what I understand, you have been getting really into autumn leaves lately.

Well, some of them, some of them, particularly the red ones.

Red freckles, that's so cute.

Okay, today on the show, the mystery of red leaves.

What are scientists' best ideas about what a tree might get from going ginger?

Okay, Nell, so you and I have talked about how in autumn the level of green chlorophyll goes down and the amount of red pigment goes up, at least in some trees.

Right.

Not all go red.

What do scientists think is going on?

Don't they eat it for breakfast?

What exactly is being protected, though?

Because beautiful as these leaves are, aren't they just going to fall off and die anyway?

It's like a last ditch.