The stories - real and imagined - behind the colors of fall

There's blood, guts, and icy fingers. More gratuitous violence from the media? No, these stories are part of the colorful folklore surrounding the natural phenomenon of leaf color change in the autumn woods.

Long before people watched gory videos and way before scientists peered into microscopes at leaf cells, people observed the forest around them. They watched the autumn sky, they smelled the changes in the air, and they felt the chill of the first frost.

Intimately in touch with their surroundings, Native Americans and old-timers of pioneer days intuited the reasons behind fall color change. They came up with some darn good stories that have endured the revisionist theories conjured up in photosynthesis labs. Give a listen to one of the most widely told stories of leaf color change.

In the time long ago, there was a Great Bear in the night sky. A band of celestial Indian hunters determined that the bear must be slain. They shot their arrows, and their aim was true. From the arrow wounds flowed blood - a lot of blood - and the gushing blood splashed all across the forest below. Every leaf touched by the blood turned red.

The hunters dressed the slain bear and cooked bear meat stew in a big vessel. The fat that spurted from the boiling stew splattered yellow across the treetops. Thus from the Great Bear's blood and fat come the brilliant reds and yellows of fall foliage.

Why then, are some leaves green all year? Did the pines and the spruces and the junipers somehow avoid the gruesome effluent of the slain bear? Anthropologist James Mooney, who studied Cherokee myths and lore in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, retold this Cherokee story: "Back in the early days, when plants and animals were first made, they were told to fast and stay awake for seven days to gain spirit power. All were anxious to gain power so they tried to do as instructed and most were able to stay awake through the first night.

The next night some started to fall asleep, and by the third night many of them were asleep. By the seventh night, only a few of the animals were awake. The panther, the owl and one or two others managed to stay awake, and as their reward they were given the power to see and go about in the dark.

Many of the plants also fell asleep and of the trees, only the cedar, the spruce, the pine, the holly, and the laurel were able to stay awake. As their reward, these were allowed to be always green, while the others must lose their leaves in the fall."

So where does Jack Frost fit into the picture? Originating on another continent, "Jokul Frosti" is a direct descendant of the Nordic wind god Kari, and his name means "icicle frost." In ancient Viking tales Jokul Frosti pinches the autumn leaves with his icy fingers to bring the magical colors of fall. In other stories, he gambols through villages in the dark of night and decorates windows, grass, and trees with his intricate ice art.

The image we have today dates back to 1864 when Harper's Weekly published artist Thomas Nast's interpretation of Jack Frost, a man clothed in icicles bringing winter to Central Park in New York.

Leave it to the modern media, however, to take this traditional image of Jack Frost and create a video monster. According to ultimatedisney.com, Jack Frost has morphed into "a homicidal snowman (Scott MacDonald, 1996), a reincarnated father snowman (Michael Keaton, 1998), and a spiky, elfin threat to Christmas (Martin Short, 2006)."

But back to the leaves. If you are skeptical of bears in the sky, somnolent trees, and nocturnal elves, here's the scientific spin on leaf color change.

The green that we see in leaves is due to a pigment called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is present in chloroplasts, small bean-shaped structures in the leaves. These microscopic green chloroplasts run the world, as they are the fundamental factories of food for all living things.

The factories can only operate in the spring and summer however, and they prepare to shut down in the fall. The cue for closing shop is decreasing daylight, and it usually - but not always - coincides with falling temperatures. With the reduction in daylight the chemistry of the leaf shifts and a corky layer forms at the base of the leaf stalk, shutting it off from the "pipes" (xylem and phloem) in the tree. These are sources of water, minerals, and nutrients. Without these, photosynthesis cannot happen. When the valves are closed, the chlorophyll in the leaf breaks down.

Several pigments have been present in the leaf throughout the growing season, but they are masked most of the year by the green chlorophyll. We see green leaves from the spring through summer, but when the chlorophyll breaks down in the fall, the underlying oranges and yellows become visible to us. Additional pigments - the brilliant scarlet and breathtaking reds - are newly produced in the fall when phosphate supplies are shut off from the leaf.

The best conditions for production of these intense shades of red are bright sunny days followed by crisp, cool nights.

Even today, with our advanced knowledge of biochemistry, something tells us that there just might be a Great Bear in the Sky and an elfin ice man sneaking around the woods at night.

Whatever version you adopt, be sure to take time to walk in the woods this month and marvel at the magic wrought by mythological creatures and cellular compounds.

• Naturalist Valerie Blaine works among colorful woodlands and prairies of Kane County. You may reach her at blainevalerie@kaneforest.com.

<p class="factboxheadblack">Best local spots for leaf-peeping</p> <p class="News"><b>Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve, Elburn:</b> The highlight of Johnson's Mound is its forested glacial kame. The forest is aglow in golden yellow each October as mature sugar and black maples are touched by Jack Frost. Visitors can experience the splendor of the fall color via the paved road as well as several hiking trails through the woods. Johnson's Mound is located at 41W600 Hughes Road, Elburn.</p> <p class="News"><b>LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve, St. Charles:</b> The most colorful aspect of LeRoy Oakes is the tallgrass prairie. Here, the purple-tinged stems of ten foot tall big bluestem grass blend with the auburn hues of Indian grass and a host of prairie plants of every shade and texture. Numerous foot paths lead through the prairie, with several stopping points for visitors to get a splendid view of the prairie's palette. LeRoy Oakes is at 37W370 Dean Street, St. Charles.</p> <p class="News"><b>Burnidge Forest Preserve, Elgin:</b> This forest preserve offers a wide range of fall color as it comprises a mosaic of habitats from woodlands to wetlands and prairie. Check out the russet-colored oaks, groves of scarlet sumacs, and the prairie full of goldenrods and asters and grasses bending in the wind. Burnidge Forest Preserve is at 38W235 Big Timber Road, Elgin.</p> <p class="News">For more information about forest preserves in Kane County, visit <a href="http://www.kaneforest.com" target="new">www.kaneforest.com</a>.</p>