Leaves Maintain a Constant Temperature

Research shows that leaves on trees in the tropics to the Arctic maintain a fairly constant temperature of 70°F.

Scientists assumed leaf temperature was the same as its environment because trees are not warm-blooded. The shocking find reveals that leaves from the tropics evolved mechanisms for keeping cool (e.g. angling themselves away from the sun) while trees in polar regions have ways to heat their leaves (e.g. having more leaves per branch to bundle up).

Colors Nutritional For Trees

Research shows that fall's bright red leaves deliver more nutrients to trees than if they were not so colored.

Trees in nutrient-poor soil produced more red pigment, backing a 2003 discovery that blocking red pigment production makes leaves ultra-sensitive to sunlight, causing less nutrients to be delivered to the plant.

This means that when the soil is poor, making the red pigment keeps those leaves working longer.