Natural History Wanderings

Department of Biology | Appalachian State University has a new fall color report for North Carolina for  9/14/14

This week is the first in which I can report the leaves they are a’changing; at least at the highest elevations.   As noted by Jesse Pope, in my post yesterday, there is visible leaf color now starting to show up at the highest elevations, around 5, 000’ and on down to around 4,000’.  Below 4,000’, most trees are still predominantly green.  As noted last week, burning bushes continue to redden ahead of schedule, and more red maples are showing splotches of color.  What is unusual about most of these red maples, many of which are varieties of urban trees planted for their fall leaf color display, is the extremely dull red of the leaves so far.  Generally, red maples end up a bright red color.  Perhaps these dull red leaves will brighten up in the next few weeks, something I will keep an eye on.