Dear Ray: Leaves are colored by the pigments they contain. They are bluish
from the chlorophyll and yellowish from the carotenoids, resuling in the
usual green. If the carotenoids predominate they can be reddish or purplish.
In the fall, the chlorophyll goes before the carotenoids, exposing their colors
alone. The carotenoids can also oxidize (as does the chlorophyll) to give some
of the deeper colors of someleaves such as maples. The radio man was confusing
chlorophyll and photosynthesis.
