A fall mystery: why do only certain leaves turn red?

2026-09-28 · 14 min · 14 entities

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concepts 12

mentioned Science concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
mentioned Life Sciences concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
mentioned Daily News concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Daily News
mentioned Nature concept

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evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Nature
mentioned Astronomy concept

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mentioned why do only certain leaves turn red concept

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A fall mystery: why do only certain leaves turn red?
discusses News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: News
discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Science
discusses Life Sciences concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Life Sciences
discusses Daily News concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Daily News
discusses Nature concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Nature
discusses Astronomy concept

0.40

evidence rules-v5
Feed category: Astronomy

companys 2

mentioned NPR company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: NPR
hosted by NPR company

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evidence rules-v5
Feed author/publisher: NPR

Episode description as stored

Leaves turn yellow in the fall because Chlorophyll breaks down, revealing the yellow pigment that was there all along. But why red? Red is a different story altogether. Leaves have to make a new pigment to turn red. Why would a dying leaf go an extra mile to do that? Scientists don’t really know. NPR science correspondent Nell Greenfieldboyce reports on the leading hypotheses out there. Read more of Nell's reporting on this topic . Interested in more seasonal science? Email us your ideas at shortwave@npr.org . Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy