Nell Greenfield Boyce
👤 Speaker
730
total appearances
Appearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
Why red leaves?
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
Why not yellow?
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
So yellow is in the leaves all along.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
It's kind of hiding in there.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
Right.
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
And so you mentioned chlorophyll breaking down in the fall.
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
And when that happens, it's because the tree wants to recover some key nutrients like nitrogen.
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
Nitrogen is really precious to a plant.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
It's needed for everything from photosynthesis to making proteins and DNA.
Short Wave
Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
And so, you know, the tree is going dormant kind of in winter, but it doesn't want to lose that nitrogen.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
It wants to hang on to it.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
So the chlorophyll gets busted up.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
The green is going away.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
And this exposes yellow.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
Right.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
OK.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
And scientists agree on that.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
The yellow is there.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
It gets exposed.
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Fall foliage is still a mystery: Why do some leaves turn red?
The red is this completely different thing.