Turning Leaves: The Rich Colors of Fall Foliage

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Tranquil Japanese Garden

The colorful foliage of autumn

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Built in 1903, the world-famous Butchart Gardens, located in Brentwood Bay in British Columbia, Canada, boasts lavish floral display gardens and a wide array of trees. Shown above is the treasured estate's Japanese garden.

All Ablaze

The colorful foliage of autumn

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Japanese maple trees turn bright cherry red a darker wine color when autumn rolls around. Trees get their crimson hue from a pigment called anthocyanin, the same nutritious pigment that lends red cabbage its intense color. Maples produce anthocyanin during autumn to serve as a kind of antioxidant for the trees.

An Autumn Bouquet

The colorful foliage of autumn

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The above idyllic forest scene shows the bright contrast between various plants' changing leaves.

Holding On

The colorful foliage of autumn

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On a cool late-autumn morning, a few color-saturated leaves remain alongside bare branches.

Stroll Through the Park

The colorful foliage of autumn

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Taken in late autumn, this stunning photo shows the warm hues of fall against an azure sky.

View from the Balcony

The colorful foliage of autumn

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This view from a terrace highlights the coral and canary yellow colors of trees and shrubbery in Kyoto, Japan.

Looking Up

The colorful foliage of autumn

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A view of autumn treetops, with various types of trees each changing their own unique shade of fall thanks to the breakdown of chlorophyll, the pigment that lends leaves their original green color.

Crimson Carpet

The colorful foliage of autumn

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A carpet of fallen leave beneath nearly bare trees, with green grass in the background serving as a memory of summer gone by.

Adirondacks Autumn

The colorful foliage of autumn

(Image credit: Elena Elisseeva | shutterstock)

This magnificent view shows the multihued beauty of the Adirondacks, a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York. In this region, the fall foliage peaks during the last two weeks of September.

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Remy Melina
Remy Melina was a staff writer for Live Science from 2010 to 2012. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Hofstra University where she graduated with honors.