10/24/2023
“Chlorophyll? More like borophyll!” - Billy Madison
Not so fast! Changing leaves are quite interesting. Leaves are colored by molecules called pigments. The pigment that causes leaves to be green is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is important for plants to make food using sunlight. Food from sunlight? Don’t make us turn this post around!! During spring and summer when there is plenty of sunlight, plants make a lot of chlorophyll. In the fall, when it starts to get colder, some plants stop making chlorophyll. As chlorophyll goes away, other pigments start to show their colors. Hey, yellow and red!
Enjoy a colorful display of fall foliage with in-person and virtual leaf peeping trips at national parks. Learn more at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/forests/leaf-peeping.htm
Image: Sometimes I feel like a leaf, but I am a leaf, so it kinda works out. Red, orange, and yellow aspen at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, CO. NPS/Patrick Myers
