GREEN ASH (FRAXINUS PENNSYLVANICA)
PAGODA DOGWOOD (CORNUS ALTERNIFOLIA)

MOUNTAIN MAPLE (ACER SPICATUM)
STAGHORN SUMAC (RHUS TYPHINA)
Friday, 8:00 AM. 53 degrees, wind SW, light. The sky is overcast but trying to clear, and there is fog over the channel as the sun tries to peek through. The gage contains 2.5” of rain. The barometer still predicts rain; is this just a lull in a three-day Nor’easter?
Fall color is coming on quickly now. It is brought on mainly by shortening day length, which triggers the growth of an “abscission layer” of corky cells at the base of the leaf petiole. Denied water and nutrients, leaf chlorophyll dies, and other colors become predominant. Weather and other factors also affect the process, so it is never exactly predictable or similar. Each species has its own color palette, so with a little practice trees and other plants can be identified even at a distance by their fall color.
This and following blogs will be devoted more-or-less to fall color as the season progresses.