A new theory, concluded by researchers from the University of Haifa, Israel, and the University of Kuopio in Finland, reaches 35 million years back in time to solve the puzzle Walking outdoors in the fall, the splendidly colorful leaves adorning the trees are a delight to the eye. In Europe these autumn leaves are mostly yellow, while the United States and East Asia boast lustrous red foliage. But why is it that there are such differences in autumnal hues around the world? A new theory provided by Prof. Simcha Lev-Yadun of the Department of Science Education- Biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim and Prof. Jarmo Holopainen of the University of Kuopio in Finland and published in the Journal New Phytologist proposes taking a step 35 million years back to solve the color mystery. The green of a tree’s leaves is from the larger proportion of the chlorophyll pigment in the leaves. The change in color to red or yellow as autumn approaches is not the result of the leaves’ dying, but of a series of processes – which differ between the red and yellow autumn leaves. When the green chlorophyll in leaves diminishes, the yellow pigments that already […]