Scientists Say Leaves Change Colour Because Chlorophyll Fades; Perthshire Trees Insist It’s ‘Embarrassment About the Weather’
Big Tree Country oaks 'turn red every October out of sheer mortification'.
Autumn trees in Perthshire, blushing. Photo: Andrew Tryon, “Autumn Trees near Balloch, Crieff, Perthshire - geograph.org.uk - 7918431”, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
CRIEFF — An explanation doing the rounds this week, that autumn leaves change colour because green chlorophyll fades and other pigments take over, has been firmly rejected by Perthshire’s trees, which say the real reason is “pure embarrassment.”
“Every October we look at the forecast and just go bright red,” said a beech near Crieff, through a spokesperson. “Imagine standing in a field for 200 years and every single autumn it’s ‘rain, heavier and more persistent’. You’d go a funny colour too.”
Perthshire, which markets itself as Big Tree Country, is at peak autumn colour, with visitors flocking to the Hermitage, Faskally and the Birks of Aberfeldy. Tourism chiefs say the trees are “a national treasure”; the trees say they would “quite like a weekend off.”
Scientists remain confident in the chlorophyll explanation. “It’s biochemistry,” said one. The beech listened politely, then dropped a leaf on him “in a way that felt very deliberate.”
At press time, a larch near Dunkeld had gone completely yellow, which experts said was either normal seasonal change or “a cry for help.”
The real story: 'Why do leaves change colour in the fall?' (BBN, 19 Oct 2026)
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