The Simple Explanation of Why Maple Leaves Turn Red
The reason maple leaves turn red is due to the high content of anthocyanins and chlorophyll in the leaves. When autumn arrives, the temperature gradually drops. As the temperature falls, chlorophyll is destroyed, while the anthocyanins in the leaves increase gradually until there is only anthocyanin left, causing the maple leaves to turn red.
What Phenomenon Does the Redding of Maple Leaves Represent
As autumn approaches, the leaves of many deciduous trees turn red, yellow, or orange. Due to different timing and varying degrees of color change, the entire forest presents a variety of colors, awakening the most直观 memory of autumn for people on this planet.
Throughout history, maple leaves have been very popular. Ancient scholars have written poems praising them, such as the well-known: 'Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty'、“Far up the cold mountain, the stone path is steep, deep in the white clouds, there are households. Stop the carriage to admire the maple forest at dusk, frost-covered leaves redder than flowers in February.”
Usually, maple leaves turn red in autumn. Maple leaves turn red in autumn due to the temperature drop, which causes the green pigment in the leaves to turn red.
In northern China, autumn is from August to October, and it is generally not until after September that autumn truly begins, so maple leaves usually turn red around September 10th. In southern China, it gets cold later, so the maple leaves turn red relatively later.
How Do Maple Leaves Turn Red
I have always been curious about why maple leaves are red, and I thought they were naturally that color. It was only today that I learned why maple leaves turn red? Is it due to light or temperature?
Maple leaves contain a substance called chlorophyll, which is why they are green in the summer.
When the temperature drops, chlorophyll is destroyed due to the temperature, and maple leaves also contain anthocyanidin, which appears red. Therefore, after the temperature change, its leaves turn red!
In fact, there are many environmental factors that affect the reddening of maple leaves, with temperature being the most significant. Temperature can significantly affect the content of chlorophyll and anthocyanins in the leaves, thus causing a change in leaf color.
Low temperatures are conducive to the decomposition of chlorophyll, and a large diurnal temperature range is favorable for the formation and accumulation of anthocyanins.
Research has shown that a diurnal temperature range higher than 15°C is beneficial for the leaf color to show. Different temperature indicators have different effects on different tree species, with average temperature, minimum temperature, duration of minimum temperature, and diurnal temperature range all affecting leaf color change to varying degrees.
In addition to this, light, humidity, and soil also affect the reddening of maple leaves to varying degrees, with these factors interacting to influence the color change of the leaves.
The analysis of the decisive factors in the reddening of maple leaves introduced above and the detailed explanation of the simple reasons for the reddening of maple leaves are provided to help you in your daily life!