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#1
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Colors of Maples
I discovered that not only does the same tree have different colors different
years, as Archie & others pointed out, but climate & location play a part. Soil pH was also mentioned. I recently bought a pre-bonsai Acer palmatum 'Arakawa,' the rough-barked maple. This cultivar, although otherwise a typical Japanese maple, is grown for its rough, corky bark. The trunk & a few branches on mine are beginning to show this trait. Vertrees, the #1 Japanese maple maven, lived in Oregon, & also collected much of his information from a nursery in England. He reported that 'Arakawa' is yellow in the fall, & this is copied in Maples of the World. In general, England & Oregon are not especially noted for fall leaf color. Central NY and the Northeast US are. Well, let me tell you my 'Arakawa' (there is no doubt of its identity) has turned a bright orange-red. A picture of it on the Web shows fall color a dark red. Even more interesting, Maples of the World goes into this subject further. In this country, and most of western Europe, Norway maple, Acer platanoides, is noted for having crappy fall color. The leaves turn an insipid yellow & fall off. However, the book mentions that in Eastern Europe & the Caucasus, Acer platanoides has beautiful fall color. Of course the next step would be for someone to go out to those parts, dig up a few young specimens of Norway maple with nice fall color, and plant them in the US to see what will happen. Meanwhile, a Japanese maple that was plain green last year, & I was thinking of getting rid of because of a root problem (not disease), turned mostly dark red last week, so I will have to keep it. My Amur maple turned the shade of red it is supposed to be. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra |
#2
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Iris Cohen wrote:
I discovered that not only does the same tree have different colors different years, as Archie & others pointed out, but climate & location play a part. Soil pH was also mentioned.. This is also true in Texas for oaks. We're not known for our fall color down here. Most of our oaks just turn paper-bag color and drop their leaves, but one year in about 15, we have just the right combination of warm days, cool nights, and perfect moisture and we see russet and peach and gold. It's enough to make a botanist play hooky to go out and enjoy. It does not look as if this is going to be such a year... M. Reed College Station, TX |
#3
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#4
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Remember that most of Europe is north of most of the US, so there is a major
daylength difference. I don't think that accounts for it. New England is pretty close to the latitude of much of Europe. I think the main difference is the Gulf Stream. The northeast US has more extremes of temperature and weather than western Europe. Eastern Europe & the Caucasus have a more severe climate. Foliage color is a byproduct of sugar storage. There is evolutionary pressure for trees in a severe climate to store more sugar for the winter, hence the fall color. However, that does not explain why Acer platanoides in the northern US lacks fall color, while the same species on the other side of the world in a similar climate has nice colors. That's why I want someone to transplant those trees from the Caucasus. Since Norway maple already has numerous traits which make it popular, nice fall color would be an additional selling point. Look at the popularity of 'Crimson King.' The only danger is that if they are attacked by some new plague, the devastation would equal what we had from Dutch elm disease. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra |
#5
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Sean Houtman wrote:
There isn't any real evolutionary pressure for a tree to be pretty in the fall, it is just something that some of them do. There are two major hypotheses to explain colorful fall leaves. One is that red anthocyanins act as a sunscreen and act as antioxidants. The other is that colorful leaves repel insects. The Warm Hues of Fall Foliage Competing theories try to explain the season's spectacular show of color, but most come up short: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?art...75809EC5880105 A Puzzle for the Autumnal Equinox: http://www.corante.com/loom/archives/015786.html Why Leaves Turn Color in the Fall: http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2001/...p8_011210.html David R. Hershey |
#6
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There are two major hypotheses to explain colorful fall leaves. One is that
red anthocyanins act as a sunscreen and act as antioxidants. The other is that colorful leaves repel insects. In that case the trees would have red leaves in midsummer, when there is more sun and there are more insects. Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi Berra |
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