This Sunday, a high pressure system from the upper Midwest moved into the North Carolina Mountains, bringing with it sunny, dry, and cooler air. Temperatures on Sunday got as low as 46oF, which is great sleeping weather and also just what the doctor has ordered for a good fall display! We are about four weeks away from peak color in the Boone area, and if the weather conditions stay like this over the next three weeks, we should expect a good fall color season.

We are fortunate not to have had any severe drought this summer, and that's another good sign it could be a good fall color season. However, a dry period these next few weeks may make for more intense colors, particularly the reds, according to most fall color predictors. However, the mechanism they propose, which is that mild drought concentrates the sugars, doesn't make much biological sense to me. Rather, I think that a dry period means more sunny days and the more sun, the more sugars a tree can make. When trees load up on sugars, they produce more anthocyanins, which are the pigments that give us the red colors.

Since last week's report, there hasn't been much change in the status of the trees. It's still very green throughout the mountains. However, if you take a hike through the woods (and I recommend that you do!), you'll see plenty of signs of the coming fall in the understory. The bright red berries on the Jack-in-the-Pulpits, and the dappled red berries of the False Solomon's Seal are sure signs that summer is ending. Indian Cucumber Root, another understory herb, has the unusual habit of setting its dark black berries against a red splash of color on the leaves below the fruits, perhaps to aid in attracting animals to disperse the seeds (see the picture below). I wonder what eats those seeds. One published study suggested deer, small mammals, and possibly birds might remove the fruits.

Remember, fall colors start first at the higher elevations and next week I'll be checking out the high elevation areas and reporting in detail on their fall color status. Stay tuned, and have a good week!

Indian Cucumber Root (Medeola virginiana). Photo by Howard S. Neufeld, taken on Beacon Hill, off the Blue Ridge Parkway, October 13, 2011.