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By LYTWOOD
Rappahiiinock Newt Special Writer
A green leaf may be likened to a beam of white light. The elemental colors of “white” sunlight — visible to us as a rainbow — are revealed only under very special circumstances. Likewise, our yearly display of leaf colors is actually a revelation of the multicolored amalgam of pigments present in a “green” leaf.
The circumstances of this seasonal revelation are, indeed, very special. Showy autumnal tree-colors may be predictable and commonplace, but they are by no means a widespread phenomenon. Outside the deciduous forests of eastern North America, such an annual display of colors can be seen only in parts of western Europe and eastern Asia, and a few very restricted areas elsewhere.
What are the special circumstances that bring about the sudden, striking turn of colors each October?
Fall color list
Each year, trees of the mountains and Piedmont of Virginia exhibit an outstanding variety of colors. The list below gives a hint of the magnificence of northern Virginia trees in autumn. Because of variations in weather, site, genetics and personalities of individual trees, this list is not infallible. Our colorful tree species actually defy such categorization.
• RED: red maple, northern red oak, black oak, sassafras, sumac.
• SCARLET: black gum, scarlet oak, pin oak.
• YELLOW: sweet birch, yellow birch, elm, willow, tuliptree.
• PURPLE and YELLOW: ash.
• RUSSETTED YELLOW: basswood, sycamore.
One tree worthy of special mention is the sugar maple. It is the Queen of the Maples, gracing many of our village streets and presiding over the deepest, remotest, most fertile mountain coves. Its autumn foliage is a variable, simultaneous display of brilliant scarlet, crimson, orange and clear yellow.
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