Mondo Knows Facts
Anthocyanins turn autumn leaves red
As chlorophyll fades, red and purple pigments in the leaf become visible Leaves make anthocyanins in autumn, partly as a sunscreen while nutrients are recovered from dying tissue. Chlorophyll breaks down first, and the yellow carotenoids hidden all summer show through. Bright cold sunny days tend to produce the strongest reds. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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Tags: chemistry, plants, colour
Anthocyanins turn autumn leaves red: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- As chlorophyll fades, red and purple pigments in the leaf become visible. The figure is taken from US Department of Agriculture, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.