Why didn't the leaves fall off my maple tree?

Deciduous trees - that is, trees that drop their leaves annually

• have many different pigments in the leaves. During the growing

season, the chlorophyll (the green pigment) is dominant. Chlorophyll reacts with water and sunlight to generate energy for the plant.

In the autumn, when the trees go dormant, the chlorophyll breaks down. The other pigments were in the leaves all along, just "hidden" by the chlorophyll. When the green pigment breaks down, the other colors become visible. The color that the leaves turn depends on the species of the tree. Maples turn scarlet or yellow, oaks turn a bronze-brown shade, aspens and birches bright gold, and so on.