Accessory pigments

Leaves of Fothergilla, an excellent landscape shrub. They turn every color in the fall from red and yellow to blue! In the family Hammamelidaceae, this shrub is related to witchazel, and more distantly, to magnolias. An excellent plant that takes well to pruning and cold temperatures.

As chlorophyll breaks down in the fall, its component elements are absorbed into the roots and other part of the plant for storage. The yellows, oranges, and reds that show in the dying leaves are pigments that were there all summer but which were masked by the abundant chlorophyll. These carotenoids and anthocyanins act as anti-oxidants that protect the functioning chlorophyll molecule.

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