Gigapan Numero Uno

             Sweet Briar campus has trees located on every section of the campus; whether you are at the Art Barn, the horse barn, or on the other side of campus near Guion. I chose to take a closer look at the trees located by Guion, which you can see in my Gigapan. That particular picture was taken near the butterfly garden. Out of all the beautiful trees I identified three different types! I identified the American Hornbeam, the Ashe Juniper, and the Spanish Oak. At this point in time, which is early October, the trees are still mostly green, with the exception of a few that stay green year round.  However, most of them will start to change soon, if they have not already. That brings up the question: Why do tree leaves change color in the fall?

The answer to this question is simple; during the winter there is not enough sunlight or water for photosynthesis to occur. So the trees will live off the food they stored during summer time.  During this time, the chemical chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, and they will eventually start to turn different colors (Even though the different colors have been located in the leaves the whole time, they were just covered by the green chlorophyll). Within the three trees I identified one tree does not change colors in the Fall/Winter. The Ashe Juniper is an Evergreen, which means photosynthesis occurs all year round, and they never run out of chlorophyll. The other two types of trees (The American Hornbeam, and the Spanish Oak) are both deciduous. Which means chlorophyll is not there year round, and the green pigment is lost in the leaves.