Thick spruce paws do not let the evil, freezing wind into the forest, which is why it is warmer in it. That’s why various people fly into the spruce forest in bad weather to find shelter. In thick fluffy branches, under snow-covered spruce paws, as if under a roof, they find shelter in whole flocks.
But why, in the fall all the trees leaves turn yellow, and in winter they fall, and the Christmas tree remains green as it was, without changing color and without losing its needles and leaves? Because needles are the same as leaves for other trees. Each needle contains the same green chlorophyll grains. True, there are much fewer of them in a needle than in ordinary leaves, but there are so many of them that the most spreading tree will envy the Christmas tree.
The Christmas tree is not afraid of winter
If the Christmas tree drops in the fall your green outfit, then the whole spring won’t be enough for her, poor thing, to grow thick needles again. After all, the leaves of ordinary trees are designed in such a way that they prepare building material for branches and trunks much faster than needles. Therefore, the Christmas tree has adapted to keep up with its growth, to wake up earlier than deciduous trees, and to fall asleep later.
The Christmas tree is also not afraid of the weight of snow, because its branches are flexible, strong and the snow cover will only bend them, but will not be able to break them. But don’t think that the Christmas tree never changes its green outfit. She changes it slowly, gradually, and within nine years she completely renews her leaves-needles.
And the best for children New Year holiday, the Christmas tree is the most welcome guest in every home, school, and kindergarten. She stands there, a beauty, decorated with toys, and delights the children with her wonderful smell of fresh pine needles and ever-green outfit.
And now, my young inquisitive friend, guess the riddle:
“winter and summer, one color”
Have you already guessed who it is? Is not it? 🙂
As you know, pine and spruce leaves do not fall in the fall. Why are conifers evergreen trees?
All trees feed on leaves. Their surface absorbs sunlight, and water flows from the roots through numerous channels. A special green substance that is found in all leaves - chlorophyll- converts these two components into food for the tree. In this case it would O Most of the water evaporates from their wide surface. As cold weather sets in, deciduous trees receive less sunlight and water from frozen soil. To survive the winter, they store the necessary amount of nutrients and moisture, shed their leaves and hibernate. Their trunk and branches are reliably protected from frost by bark.
Pine and spruce leaves - needles- These are thin needles covered with a thick sheath. Thanks to this, they almost do not lose moisture from the surface and can remain on the tree during the cold season. They also accumulate a small amount of water and sugars to nourish the tree in winter, as well as oils that prevent the needles from freezing in frost. Pine and spruce needles fall off, but this happens gradually, and new ones immediately grow in their place.
Therefore, conifers are evergreen trees.
The famous Russian poet Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev wrote a poem about this:
Let the pines and spruce
They hang around all winter,
In snow and blizzards
Wrapping themselves up, they sleep, -
Their skinny greens,
Like hedgehog needles
At least it never turns yellow,
But it’s never fresh.
The tradition of an evergreen spruce or pine appearing as a New Year's guest
Did you know that in ancient times our Slavic ancestors celebrated the New Year with cherry blossoms? Shortly before the holiday, the tub in which the tree grew was brought into the house. In the warmth, buds developed, and the tree was densely covered with a delicate white-pink color.
People were having fun around the New Year's cherry tree - they danced in circles and sang songs. The flowering tree remained in the house until spring. Then it was planted in warm spring soil.
Later, the evergreen Christmas tree replaced the whitening cherry tree. In our area, the New Year tree holiday was introduced by a special decree of Tsar Peter the Great in the year one thousand seven hundred. The decree pleased both the nobility and the common people. Since then, our usual beautiful tradition of decorating the Christmas tree before celebrating the New Year has appeared.
Many coniferous trees are evergreen, that is, they retain their needles on their branches throughout the year. It dies off gradually, the old needles are imperceptibly replaced by new ones, and the tree remains green all the time. The green color of the needles itself is given by the pigment chlorophyll, which is located in the chloroplasts of cells - special organelles responsible for photosynthesis - air nutrition of plants (synthesis from carbon dioxide, water with the participation of solar energy of organic substances - glucose).
But to be precise, Christmas trees are not always the same green color. There are species, for example, Canadian spruce, which have blue needles, and there are species of spruce with yellow needles. Also, spruce needles change color throughout the year. At the end of spring - beginning of summer, the tips of spruce shoots begin to grow, and they always have lighter needles.
So the riddle Winter and Summer in the Same Color is about a Christmas tree, but not just any tree.
For they are conifers, i.e. always green, otherwise evergreen, and by nature they have green needles instead of foxtails!
But at the same time, conifers regularly shed unnecessary needles (important for the metabolism of these trees), and so quickly that we don’t even have time to notice!
Because spruce is a coniferous tree, and needles are not like tree leaves - they do not turn yellow and do not fall off, unless, of course, the tree itself has died.
But this does not mean that the Christmas trees always have the same needles - they change them, but gradually and therefore this is not noticeable to the naked eye. The needles are like the hair on a person’s head - they fall out and then grow back))
Only on deciduous trees the leaves turn yellow and fall off.
Coniferous trees such as pine and spruce do not turn yellow and needles do not fall off.
Needles may turn yellow and fall off when a branch, or the entire tree, dries out.
The needles contain sap that nourishes the tree and helps it survive the winter.
The needles fall off on fir trees, but this does not happen instantly and quickly, as in deciduous trees, which are forced to shed their leaves so as not to give food to the leaves, and thereby preserve nutrients until spring. Spruce does not have wide leaves, the needles do not take up as much chlorophyll from sunlight, and the renewal of needles occurs year-round, but gradually, as a result the tree does not go bald and is always green.
Christmas trees are green not only in winter. Christmas trees are always green, because coniferous trees are classified as evergreen plants and trees. In summer they are especially green because they send out new shoots with new needles. The length of the shoots reaches 15-20 centimeters. These new shoots contain a large amount of useful substances. The needles on the Christmas tree are green because they contain chlorophyll. It turns them green.
because the needles do not fall off them. They are green all year round. The needles that grow are lighter green and then become darker. A lot of juice accumulates in the needles, but it does not evaporate and remains inside, thereby strengthening and keeping the needles green
Coniferous trees have needles instead of wide leaves, like modified leaves. In winter, coniferous trees do not have to shed their leaves and they remain green all year round in spring, summer, autumn and winter without changing. And the green color of the needles is given by the pigment chlorophyll, thanks to which photosynthesis occurs and plants are able to breathe.
As in a children's riddle, coniferous trees remain green at any time of the year, thanks to the needles and the coloring pigment chlorophyll. Thanks to this, plants are useful, incredibly necessary, including for health, you can take walks in the coniferous forest in winter and breathe in the aroma of pine needles.
Because the Christmas tree, like the spruce, is a coniferous tree, it does not turn yellow and does not lose its needles in the fall because they contain a lot of sap, which allows the tree to survive the winter in the same form as all other seasons, the only change in the winter season can be considered the darkening of the needles.
As you know, needles grow on a Christmas tree instead of leaves; they fall off only in the spring, and not all at once, but gradually, so the Christmas tree is never bald.
The needles produce chlorophyll, and the Christmas tree is green all year round; it’s not for nothing that they are called evergreens.
This does not explain why the water in them does not freeze in the cold and they retain their elasticity and green color
Deciduous plants in temperate climates shed their leaves for the winter. In autumn, maples, ash, and birch trees turn yellow or red, the leaves quickly change their color to become dead and fall off. But coniferous evergreens do not fit into the general routine.
Only larch sheds its needles, while the rest of the conifers - spruce, pine, cedar and others - remain green all year round. Why does the general law not have power over them? It turns out that there are natural reasons for this. Nature leaves spruce trees green for a reason.
Deciduous plants and the change of seasons
Plants with broad leaves remain green in the summer and shed their leaves completely in the winter. They will still be useless in the frosty period, since they are not resistant to cold and will wither at the first frost. Therefore, it is easier to get rid of them by falling into a kind of hibernation during the cold season in order to grow fresh greenery in the spring.
Related materials:
Why do leaves change color in autumn? Why do leaves turn yellow in autumn?
All young leaves have a green color, which is provided by chlorophyll. Due to this substance, photosynthesis occurs - a process that provides plants with nutrition. It occurs in the presence of sunlight, and its “side” effect is the release of oxygen into the atmosphere. At night, when plants are unable to carry out photosynthesis due to darkness, they breathe like ordinary earthly creatures, inhaling oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. Only the presence of good lighting allows them to act differently.
In hot countries, where there are no foliar-damaging frosts and there is sufficient sunlight all year round, local plants remain evergreen. Among conifers, only cypress and some pines, mainly mountain ones, are considered southern. For the most part, conifers are typical northern plants. In harsh latitudes, summer is short and there is less sun. It is more profitable for deciduous trees to get rid of foliage every year in order to survive the winter - it also removes excess moisture, which could create a threat of cracking of the trunk in the cold. Chlorophyll disappears from the leaves, they acquire bright colors, then fall off. But conifers do not need to hibernate.
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Why does a Christmas tree need needles?
Thin, long needles are able to withstand cold weather and are not threatened by the usual winter risks. They are modified leaves that are distinguished by their minimal surface and compactness. This reduces the usable area where photosynthesis can occur, but also reduces the risk of damage from cold and winds. Problems with the small area of an individual needle for photosynthesis are easily solved by the density of the needles.
What helps a needle survive the winter?
Resinous sap helps the needles not to freeze or die off at low temperatures in winter; they contain less water than the leaves of ordinary trees, which makes them less vulnerable to frost. In addition, each needle has a thin but dense wax film, which also plays a protective function. In severe frosts, some of the needles may indeed die off, but these will be exclusively young shoots that have not yet had time to create sufficient protection from the vagaries of nature.
Why are conifers always green?
Spruce trees do not hibernate, although growth in winter slows down, actually stops. New shoots appear in spring, cones bloom and form in summer, when it is warm. In winter, the plant simply continues to exist very slowly. Chlorophyll does not leave the needles, they remain green. This is why coniferous trees are always green. To maintain them you need very few useful substances, the prickly crown is not burdensome for the tree, there is no point in discarding it.
