Why Do Leaves Blush Red In The Fall?

I was going to write an entire post, with charming narrative backed by informative science, on this seasonal phenomenon, but after first seeing Moran's very informative post on Sandwalk, I was a bit hesitant, but decided I could keep my narrative and link to Sandwalk for the informative science part, but then I noticed that even Carl Zimmer was jumping on the leaf-changing bandwagon by adding his two cents (in video format!) on ABC news, and so I felt like a post on the matter would merely be a voice amongst the choir.

Check out the links, in the meantime Ill be preparing my post for next year's fall season, since by that time you will most likely have forgotten why leaves turn red and I will happily remind you by reposting.

It certainly seems like leaf-changing stories appear every Fall and I can only suspect that it is because we secretly believe that if we don't explain why leaves, every Fall, change to the colors that they do, well, one day the leaves just might decide not to change colors and fall. One can never be too sure what leaves are scheming.

So the next time your walking down the sidewalk underneath the cover of tree branches and you happen to gaze upwards towards those rustling leaves, ask yourself "I wonder what those leaves are scheming?" But be aware that the guy walking behind you will most likely be thinking to himself "what the heck is this guy in front of me gawking at?" Which is your cue to scuttle off down the sidewalk like a leaf sailing on a strong autumn wind. ; - )


**Update: Zimmer made a post today, Oct 31st, with extra links to past posts and a NYtimes article he wrote, click here to view)