Peak leaf season approaches

By Charles Seabrook

For the AJC

Thank goodness ForestWatch scheduled some afternoon hikes to satisfy our urge to get outdoors.

Enlarge photo

Martha Tate The leaves of the sourwood trees have already turned deep red at Vogel State Park in North Georgia.

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Vogel, one of Georgia’s oldest state parks, is at the base of Blood Mountain in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Union County, one of the state’s hot spots for fall leaf color.

Last weekend, the leaves of sumacs and sourwoods already had turned a deep red. The leaves of oaks, maples and other hardwoods, however, were just starting to take on their red, orange, yellow and gold tints. This weekend, the leaf colors should be much more pronounced; by next weekend, they should be approaching their full autumn glory.

To get you in the mood for the annual spectacle, here are a few leaf color tidbits:

● Some of the trees whose leaves will sport yellow hues include yellow poplar, black cherry and black locust. Decked out in yellow-gold leaves will be American beech, hickory and black walnut. Bronze leaves will adorn the chestnut oak, American elm and black oak. Red leaves will be on the black gum, persimmon and red maple. Sassafras will have red-orange leaves. Red-purple leaves will be on the sweet gum and scarlet oak. The Southern red oak will be attired in red-brown leaves.

● Although the bright, colorful blooms of wildflowers in spring and fall serve to attract pollinators that help the plants reproduce, the vibrant leaf colors of hardwoods in autumn apparently serve no biological purpose.

● The biochemical changes that cause leaves to change color begin, for the most part, around June 21, the first day of summer and the longest day of the year. After that, the days gradually grow shorter. As the nights become longer and cooler, the process of senescence, which leads to aging and death of the leaves, starts the color changes and eventually leads to the leaves falling off the tree.

● Yellow, red and orange pigments actually are present in a green leaf in spring and summer, but the leaf contains so much green chlorophyll that it masks the other pigments. As the days grow shorter, less chlorophyll is produced, and the other pigments dominate.

For more information, visit the Georgia Forestry Commission’s Web site: www.gfc.state.ga.us
/education/AutumnLeaves
/index.cfm.

In the sky

The Orionid meteor shower will be visible next week, with the best nights being Monday through Wednesday. It will reach a peak Tuesday night of 25 meteors per hour, said David Dundee, astronomer with the Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum. Look to the east from about midnight until dawn. The moon will be new tonight, and thus not visible for a night or two. By Monday, look for a thin crescent moon low in the west just after dark.

Mercury is low in the east just before sunrise. Venus rises just before the sun. Mars rises out of the east just before midnight. Jupiter is high in the south at sunset and sets in the west about midnight. Saturn is very low in the east just before sunrise.