Garland quoted in BDN article on fall foliage
The Bangor Daily News spoke with Kate Garland, a horticulturist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and cited information from UMaine Extension in the article, “Foliage report: Maine experts talk this year’s fall color.” Although Maine’s foliage season has been delayed this year, the recent heavy rain around the state may mean brighter colors when the leaves turn, according to the article. “We’re looking at what’s been hidden all season long,” Garland said of the fall colors. “It has just been masked by the green chlorophyll.” During summer, chlorophyll in leaves absorbs energy from the sun and uses it to produce sugars and starches to help the tree grow, the article states. In addition to green chlorophyll, leaves contain yellow and orange pigments, according to a bulletin published by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, and in the fall the leaves stop producing chlorophyll. “Different species tend to have different types of pigment, but within that, different individuals will have different pigmentation,” Garland said. “Even if you have two sugar maples side by side, different parent plants will have different genetics and slightly different pigments will show.” Some trees, such as silver maple, aspen, birch and hickory, only show shades of yellow, according to the UMaine Extension bulletin. Red or crimson leaves often are produced by trees such as red and sugar maple, flowering dogwood, black gum and red oak, the article states.