During the last few hikes I have been enjoying the fall colours of the larch trees, one of the few coniferous trees that change colour and lose their needles in the fall. To save nutrients for later, the plant turn colour in the fall as the days get shorter and the temperatures started cooling. The part in the needles that photosynthesize or another way to put it, create sugars from carbon dioxide, water and sunlight. Starts to break up and the chemicals get stored in the tree. At this time the needles become beautiful golden yellow. This fall with the added bonus of few early snowfalls in the mountains, the larch trees were sparking under the sun.
