Fall Color Report: Week of October 26, 2008

Howie Neufeld, Ph.D.
Professor of Plant Physiology
Appalachian State University
http://www.appstate.edu/~neufeldhs

As we enter the last week of October, the leaves have really begun to fall off the trees here in the High Country. This morning, as I write, we're having snow showers to boot, so it looks like winter is making an early appearance in the mountains. Yet despite this cold start to the week, there is still a smattering of color up here, mostly oranges and yellows from the maples, tulip poplars and hickories. Surprisingly, some of the ornamental birches (like river birch, Betula nigra) are waiting until now to start turning yellow, so we still have some green in the landscape. The pin oaks are now a deep rust color, and many oaks and beeches will hold onto their leaves until nearly spring (why they do that is a matter of debate among ecologists, and a topic for a future science of fall color column!).

In the Asheville area, which is about 1,000' lower than here in Boone, my fall color spy Dr. Jonathan Horton (professor at UNC-Asheville) tells me they have good color down there. Maples are peaking or even fading, while sourwoods and dogwoods still have good reds. The hickories and oaks are still relatively unchanged, and as you get a little higher (east towards Fairview or west on the Parkway) there is more color. At the highest elevations on the Parkway and also towards the Highland area, colors are mostly past their peak, although still pretty.

Further downstate near Raleigh, Jeff Herrick (from the U.S. EPA in RTP), says that color is just starting to show there. The Piedmont is over 2,000' lower than the High Country, and is usually 2-3 weeks behind the mountains in fall color. Sweetgums are starting to turn red, and maples are showing off bright yellow and orange. All of this color is highlighted against a backdrop of green from the loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) that dominate this portion of the state.

My coastal color spy, Dr. Claudia Jolls (professor at East Carolina University), says that sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) are just starting to turn yellow, while black gums (Nyssa sylvatica) are turning a blaze orange before morphing over to a wine red color. Dogwoods are well underway, and hickories are turning a golden color now. In the swamps, water tupelos (Nyssa aquatica) are yellowing up and bald cypresses (Taxodium distichum) are just starting to turn a rust color. Red maples, sourwoods and sweetgums still need more time. Colors there will most likely peak in the first week of November.