Why do autumn leaves change colour?

Rowan leaves (Sorbus aucuparia), encountered at Northern Stage and Newcastle University, UK

 Watercolour, acrylic & ink, 15 x 10 cm

As days shorten, and night envelopes us earlier each day, I keep finding patches of bright autumn leaves on my way. Where do these colours come from, I wonder, and what might be their purpose, I ponder.

Science says, the trees ready themselves for the long cold sleep of winter. They reclaim their valuables and hide their chemicals in their wooded bodies, sealing off their broadleaved solar panels and setting them to sail to the soil. Leaves turn yellow, protecting from cellular disintegration, and orange, protecting from solar-damaged mutation, and red and purple, fending off cold sensation and pest vexation.

But science forgets what art inherently knows: these bright bursts of colour expose how wintertime slows – life. The leaves tell us: be ready! Find your warm home for the dark months to arrive. Keep these colours in your heart to remember how it feels to be alive.

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