TREES AND THE PARKWAY

Trees and their Autumn Colors Trees of the Parkway

Trees, trees, trees are nearly everywhere and come fall, many of them burst into color. Dogwood, sourwood and blackgum turn deep red in late September. Tulip-trees and hickories turn bright yellow, sassafras a vivid orange, and red maples add their multi-colored brilliance. Finally, various oaks put on a dash of russet and maroon. Evergreen trees include Virginia pine, white pine, hemlock, spruce and fir.

Trees and their colors!

Trees enrich our lives throughout the year. They reassure us with the rustle of their leaves, give us shade to soothe our overheated bodies and they bring delight to us when we watch birds nest in their boughs. However, it is only during the fall that they wave flamboyant foliage that seems to demand our attention.
Autumn leaves seem to scream to us some years while other years they simply speak to us. The intensity of their announcements depends upon weather conditions.  Bright sunny days and cool, but not freezing, nighttime temperatures are requirements for a vivid autumn show. If there is an early frost, the leaves are likely to become brown and drop.   In autumn, chlorophyll, the green coloring agent in leaves that makes photosynthesis possible, begins to decrease. As chlorophyll fades, other colors such as red, orange and yellow appear. Carotenes and xanthophylls are pigments that produce the lively yellows, golds and oranges of autumn leaves. These pigments are present in summer but they are hidden by the green of chlorophyll. Only when chlorophyll production stops, do they show their presence. The scarlet, rust and purple leaves are caused by anthocyanin pigments. Unlike the carotenes and xanthophylls, these pigments are not already present in the leaves but are synthesized in the leaf after chlorophyll production stops. When chlorophyll production stops, so does the flow of water and glucose between the leaves and the tree. A layer of cells called the abscission layer, develops to block the flow. Some glucose will be trapped inside the leaf and it will change to anthocyanin pigments with the help of certain weather conditions.

Common Name Family Fall Color

Black Gum Dogwood Red
Flowering Dogwood Dogwood Red
Alternate Lvd. Dogwood Dogwood Red
Swamp Dogwood Dogwood Red
Persimmon Ebony Yellow
Paw Paw Annona Yellow
Yellow Poplar Magnolia Yellow
Cucumber Magnolia Yellow
Royal Paulownia Figwort Yellow
Big Tooth Aspen Willow Yellow
Black Willow Willow Yellow
Serviceberry Rose Red/Yellow
Black Cherry Rose Red/Yellow
Choke Cherry Rose Yellow
Mountain Ash Rose Yellow
American Plum Rose Yellow
Apple Rose Yellow
Sourwood Heath Red
American Hornbeam Birch Orange/Red
Hophornbeam Birch Yellow
Yellow Birch Birch Yellow
Black Birch Birch Yellow
River Birch Birch Yellow
American Beech Beech Brown/Yellow
American Chestnut Beech Yellow
Black Oak Beech Red/Brown
White Oak Beech Red/Brown
Northern Oak Beech Red
Chestnut Oak Beech Yellow
Scarlet Oak Beech Red
Sassafras Laurel Yellow/Red/Orange
American Elm Elm Yellow
Box Elder Maple Yellow/Red
Mountain Maple Maple Orange/Red
Striped Maple Maple Yellow
Red Maple Maple Yellow/Red/Orange
Black Locust Bean Yellow
Tree of Heaven Quassia Yellow
Witch Hazel Witch Hazel Yellow
Black Walnut Walnut Yellow
White Walnut Walnut Yellow/Brown
Bitternut Hickory Walnut Yellow
Pignut Hickory Walnut Yellow
Shagbark Hickory Walnut Yellow
Mockernut Hickory Walnut Yellow
Sycamore Sycamore Brown
Green Ash Olive Yellow
White Ash Olive Purple/Yellow
Staghorn Sumac Cashew Red/Purple/Orange
Winged Sumac Cashew Red/Purple
Smooth Sumac Cashew Red
Catawba Rhododendron Heath Evergreen
Mountain Laurel Heath Evergreen
Common Winterberry Holly Yellow
Mountain Winterberry Holly Yellow
Eastern White Pine Pine Evergreen
Virginia Pine Pine Evergreen
Table Mountain Pine Pine Evergreen
Pitch Pine Pine Evergreen
Eastern Hemlock Pine Evergreen
Carolina Hemmlock Pine Evergreen
Eastern Red Cedar Pine Evergreen