Fall Foliage Report - Foliage in the Berkshires
Posted on Fri, Sep 21, 2012 @ 09:00 AM
Kayla Hebler
Many people come to visit the Berkshires in the summer but the fall season is the absolute best to visit here. When the leaves turn from green to orange, red, brown and yellow colors is called Fall Foliage here. It has been reported as one of the warmest summers ever for Berkshire County, it has also been one of the driest which stresses out the trees and land, which may advance the time that the colors change, but have no doubt about it that we will have an extended leaf season starting around Columbus Day.
Although it may be taking a little bit longer nature will do its part and have these beautiful leaves change in no time. Here is the chemistry behind Fall Foliage in BerkshireCounty: As summer daylight hours shorten and darkness lengthens, a hormone composed of a sugar-like substance travels down the stems of deciduous leaves to the point where they attach to the branches. There the hormone causes cells to stiffen; creating a ring that tightens around the stem, preventing the passage of water to the leaves. (That ring is visible at the end of a downed leaf stem.) Without water the chlorophyll cannot survive, so leaves stop manufacturing food and the green color that masks the yellow pigment of the leaves. In addition, in some species the hormone generates red but, contrary to the general perception, fall is primarily the time of unmasking rather than of adding color to leaves.
The entire process is so interesting; it only takes place in deciduous trees, those that drop their leaves all at once. In essence, the leaves are choked to death, yet with the golden promise that the trees themselves don’t die and will sprout new leaves profusely in the spring. While cold nights assist the deciduous miracle, the timing depends primarily on day length. So cool!
So come visit the Berkshires during the fall season, it is worth it and so romantic and magical to just go for a walk and observe all that nature has to offer!