Above: New leaves begin to grow on deciduous trees. Below: Large-leaved plants in the tropical rainforest need little direct sunlight. Photos by Maya Walters.
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The leaves are where "food" is created for the
tree. Leaves are green because they contain a chemical called chlorophyll. This chemical allows the plant to manufacture sugars from
carbon dioxide and water in a process called photosynthesis. Most leaves have a relatively tough, waxy, water-proof coating which protect
them from hungry insects. It is only through the coating's tiny pores, called "stomata", that the required carbon dioxide can enter the leaf.
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During photosynthesis,
plants capture red and blue light wavelengths, and use their energy to combine the component atoms of water with carbon
dioxide. The plant uses the resulting sugars for its own growth. Oxygen is simply a by-product of the reaction. All green plants
use the chemical chlorophyll for photosynthesis. In fact, all plants are green because of chlorophyll -- it absorbs the red
and blue light wavelengths, and only reflects green.
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