Changing Color:California buckwheat

According to Lev-Yadun in “What Do Red and Yellow…” There is very good evidence for physiological benefits of autumn leaf coloration, such as an enhanced recovery of foliar nitrogen owing to the protection by anthocyanins from photoinhibition and photo-oxidation…”. Plants not only change color in response to abundance of certain lights, but also abundance of water. According to calscape.org, “California Buckwheats are tough and easy to grow, even in very dry conditions...It produces profuse pink to white and cream-colored flowers as early as March that dry to a pretty red rust color as the soil dries”. Also according to “San Gabriel Mountains Leaf Log” by Jain Strong, California buckwheat forms bushes of bright red stalks along the side of the road. Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum), reddish-brown flowers dried on yellow stalks, patterns the hillsides. It will be the dominant color plant.” While traveling in the the altadena mountains, it became apparent to me that the mountains were quite purple. Upon further investigation, it became clear to me that the mountains purple color could be a result of the California Buckwheat, which were abundant all along the mountain sides. It would be interesting to see how the mountain color changes by season, compared to how buckwheat color changes as well. Ultimately however, this relatively unknown plant that exists within the Altadena mountains may be responsible for setting the tone to the mountains, which creates part of the atmosphere, signaling fall for all of Los Angeles.

Sources:
Lev-Yadun, S., & Gould, K. S. (2007). What Do Red and Yellow Autumn Leaves Signal?. Botanical Review, 73(4), 279-289.
http://calscape.org/Eriogonum-fasciculatum-(California-Buckwheat)
http://tchester.org/sgm/conditions/seasons/leaflog1998.html

Publicado el diciembre 10, 2017 09:43 TARDE por _ben_