PIN IT Every fall, I look forward to the beautiful colours as the green leaves on the trees change to yellow, orange, brown, and red. So don't wait – get out there and enjoy the autumn foliage while you can! Leaves are green because they’re filled with a green pigment called chlorophyll (clore-oh-fill), which plants use to … Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normal green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown.

But as with most phenomena in the world, there is a thorough scientific explanation of this magic, and consequently as to why leaves change color in the fall.
WHY DO LEAVES CHANGE COLOUR? Picture: Jay Town The trees in the background will change colour over a few weeks. When the seasons change in places where deciduous trees grow, the days get shorter (there is less sunshine) and the weather gets colder. So leaves can look especially bright after a few days of sunny, warm weather. The three pigments that colour leaves are chlorophyll (green), carotenes (yellow) and anthocyanins (reds and pinks). ... How long it takes for the leaves to fall depends on the weather, and if it's not a great year for autumn colors, the leaves can actually start to fall within days of changing color. The color-changing process is simply magical. There is so much chlorophyll in an active leaf that the green masks other pigment colors. If the leaves that have been feeding trees change color and fall off, how do the trees stay alive? In this blog post we look at the science behind the falling leaves, do an experiment to see what colours are hiding in the green leaves, and explore the science behind the colours.

Leaves are green in the summer because they contain the green pigment chlorophyll. The color change usually happens before the leaves fall off of the tree. The trees in the background will change colour over a few weeks. Feel good in the forest this season with an autumn colour forest walk. We are, in essence, watching the leaves starve themselves and die. The green color in unripe bananas comes from chlorophyll, the same pigment that gives green leaves their color. Inside a leaf there are millions of little packages of color in green, yellow and orange.
What do autumn leaves and ripening bananas have in common? While the leaves in their autumn hues are beautiful, the reason behind their transformation is anything but. To figure out what colour a leaf would be without the dominant chlorophyll colour, we can separate the colours by doing this science experiment. Leaves change color as a part of their natural life cycle.