Why are Leaves Green?

Wilbur, the Roving Reporter


I was talking to my good friend Lucy recently and asked her why are leaves green? Her response was short and to the point,

"Because they are not read!"

Well, that intrigued me. Of course they are not read I thought, they aren't newspapers or magazines. This then lead me to conjure an experiment.

"What if I tried to read some leaves?"

Maybe they would be come a different color, say purple or salmon. What if after you read one they turned black and start singing opera (I once heard a flower singing a stanza of Oklahoma, which surprised me since it was blooming in Kansas near Overland Park)? So yesterday I went out to my red oak tree in the front lawn, grabbed a couple of leaves with my trunk and held them close to my eyes to find their hidden message.

I saw nothing.

I went back in to my study, got out the magnifying glass and looked again reasoning that their messages maybe too small for an elephant to see. Like they could have be written for an ant.

I looked again and found nothing.

At this point I was just about to give up when I remembered an experiment I saw Mr. Wizard perform when I was 2 years old where he wrote invisibly with lemon juice on paper and used a candle to reveal the words by heating the underside of the paper. So over to the fireplace I went and held the leaves as long as I could near the flame, my hopes running high.

Nothing still!

At first that is.

But my trunk was getting too hot so I went back to my desk, got out the candle Grandmother left me for emergencies - convinced this was an emergency - I lit it and set it in a holder. I then held one of the leaves over it. As it turned brown, and just before it burst into flames, I heard it...

The leaf was singing!

Not very loud of course, it was only one leaf, but I heard it! And it was opera. Wagner I thought, but then it burst into flames and as it did it burst into a refrain of "Feelings." I dropped it to the floor and stomped it out. I then took up the second leaf and repeated the experiment, being careful not to burn it up. Sure enough, as the leaf slowly turned brown music came from it, but this time several songs were manifested. Opera, rock, even country! Wow!

I was so excited with my news that I rushed over to Lucy's and told her everything. I had discovered that leaves are green, not because they are not read, but because no one is listening to them sing.

Lucy sat there politely listening to me. When I finished, she said ok, turned and went into her kitchen for a cup of cocoa.