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| November 9th 2012 |
When leaves are under stress, they can turn red. I don't know why. Nor do I know why some leaves do it and others on the same plant don't. They can do it in the middle of the summer - one bright leaf in a sea of green. Even in autumn, when we might expect browns and yellows, they catch the eye.
This post highlights blackberry leaves, not because they are the only kind which can go red like this, but because there are more blackberries here than almost any other kind of plant and these are the ones one notices just now. In the summer I saw a dandelion with one deep red leaf when all the others on the plant were green. Like a special streak you might put in your hair for a party. (Or, maybe not you . . . or, maybe you should try it . . . ? Solidarity with the plant world.)
Yesterday afternoon, I set out to photograph some. This, of course, was quite the wrong moment and the post is now as much about how quickly gloom comes in on November evening as it is about leaves.
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| November 9th 2012 |
The colour doesn't necessarily touch the whole leaf, it can be partial and patterned.
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| November 9th 2012 |
This picture, of course, is irrelevant - except that the bright red dots of unripened blackberry fruits brighten the hedgerows too. Maybe this bunch says something about the direction from which the sun shines most?
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| November 9th 2012 |
The light is going. We may miss the special touch of sunlight but red leaves still stand out.
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| November 9th 2012 |
In their variety.
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Following a View
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| November 8th 2012 |
Leaves on the right hand tree are almost all gone now. As vegetation recedes, houses on the left are revealed.
Notice too, the blackberry tangle. You'll see that red is certainly not the dominant colour!
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This, I think, below, is my favourite of the red-leaved-group. I'm putting it separately for two reasons. First because it was taken a day before the others. Second because there's some kind of miner activity. Maybe that's got something to do with it?
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| November 9th 2012 |
But that can't be the explanation. Masses of leaves have miner damage but the patterns go yellow or brown, not red. Nor do miners synchronise their burrowing to create the kind of symmetry you see here.
I don't know!
Interesting though.
P.S. This , it may strike you, is a stunningly information free, un-erudite, post.
If you would like to leave an explanation for these reds and patterns in the comments, please do. Don't worry about its length.
Otherwise, if there's something which could usefully be added to this post, do email me at
looseandleafy@googlemail.com
and I'll add it in.
7 comments:
I noticed a lot of red leaves during the summer especially on a couple of young oak trees. I'd put it down to the excessive rain followed by a long dry period - I suspect that any kind of strees can have this result on individual trees and planrs though.
My blackberries, blueberries and maples turn red during autumn for the reasons of less light and therefore less photosynthesis so the red pigment already in the leaves comes out now. Of course the colder nights help as does stress from drought etc.
But that is from my climate. Not sure Lucy about yours, but I would imagine it has to do with some lack of photosynthesis as well due to stress or climate.
Hi, Rowan and Donna. I'd understand it better if the whole plant went red (like the maples and blueberries you mention, Donna) but . . . when just one leaf goes red, or a few . . . how does their life experience differ from that of their neighbours on the same plant - same roots, same climate.
Fascinating! I shall now have to take a close look at my plot blackberry bush to see if it has any red leaves.
Flighty xx
I don't know but glad you shared it with us!
X
I don't know how it works but I am very glad that it happens, especially as I saw a magnificent Liquidambar tree on Sunday, which was gloriously red.
dear Lucy, i know there is a scientific explanation but I love your approach to just observe closely and ask questions. It's brilliant - I think questions are more important than answers to get us thinking and stirring our imaginations!
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