leaves

Going through the photo backlog. From Jenny's village. Leaves on the patio in D's sandpit. Winter river. Christ Church meadow. Rose. Bridge of Sighs. Bridge, Cheddington.
Autumn is a time of incredible beauty, when the world becomes painted in the red, orange and yelllow palette of falling leaves. But there may be a deeper purpose to these colours, and the red ones in particular. In the eyes of some scientists, they aren't just decay made pretty - they are a tree's way of communicating with aphids and other insects that would make a meal of it. The message is simple: "I am strong. Don't try it." During winter, trees withdraw the green chlorophyll from their leaves, and textbooks typically say that autumn colours are produced by the pigments that are left…