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Trees don their fall coats
Above is a picture of the Smith River above Eggleston Falls, downstream from the Smith River Sports Complex in Axton. Brian Williams of the Dan River Basin Association wrote that “temperature and moisture are the main influences (on leaf color) here.”
Brian Williams, education and outreach coordinator for the Dan River Basin Association, photographed these fall scenes and wrote about them in his blog.
Three factors contribute to autumn color: “length of night, weather and leaf pigments,” he wrote. “Warm, sunny days and cool, crisp nights seems to bring out the most spectacular color displays. During the day, leaves produce sugars and the cool nights cause the leaf veins to close, holding the sugars in. Sugars and light spur production of the brilliant pigments, by way of anthocyanins and carotenoids producing reds, purples, crimson and golden yellows.”
Williams listed colors and associated trees: “Ash: yellow, maroon; beech: yellow to orange; dogwood: scarlet to purple; hickory: golden bronze; oak: red, browns or russet; poplar: golden yellow; maples: brilliant scarlet to bright golds; sourwood: deep red; sweet gum: golden yellow; and sassafras: bright yellow.”
For more, see his blog at:
http://danriverbasinadventures.blogspot.com
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