[College of ACES] [University of Illinois] [Illinois CES]

Re: Photosynthesis

murphyc@southern.durham.k12.nc.us
Fri, 7 Nov 1997 15:48:53 -0600

A question came up today in my biology class that was pretty
close to your question Thursday, 17 April, 1997. A student
wanted to know why does chlorophyll fade in deciduous trees
and not in evergreens? Besides the obvious,genetics,I need
some help with this one so that I can give accurate informa-
tion.

My initial thoughts were that the remaining coniferous
leaves would need to continue to photosynthesize and there-
fore would obviously need chlorophyll and water to do so.
Give me a little more to go on if you will. Also, it would
be helpful if I could see and get a copy of the explanation
given to you regarding your Thursday, 17 April, 1997 quest-
ion
.
As you can see, my question is not concerned with the dor-
mancy of 2nd and 3rd year conifer needles and scales, it
concerns what happens every year. The 2nd and 3rd year
info that you received would simply be icing on the cake.