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Some trees and plants that are still rebellious about this: https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/images/cercis-canadensis-merlot-p1128-7419_image.jpg https://www

Some trees and plants that are still rebellious about this: https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/images/cercis-canadensis-merlot-p1128-7419_image.jpg https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/images/cercis-canadensis-... Of course those also have chlorophyll, but the color is overridden by other color particles. Sadly we have no blue trees. We have blue flowers though and it would probably be possible to create one. That would be so awesome.

MarkSweep 6y ago
A blue spruce is a fairly blue tree: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_spruce https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_spruce
- bregma 6y ago
  Blue spruce is actually pretty darn green, but its needs have a waxy coating that alters our perception of the colour of the underlying tissue. New needles, and needles you scrape with your fingernails, reveal their true green colour. A waxy coating is a strong selector for survival in an environment where preventing evaporation is a must, such as locations in which the ambient temperature drops below the freezing point of water for much of the year.
  - SECProto 6y ago
    Do black spruce have a waxy coating? They certainly don't appear blue, and they thrive in locations with much colder winters than the blue spruce.
    - piva00 6y ago
      As far as I know all coniferous (Pinophyta) have waxy coatings, black spruces are a species of Pinophyta so I'd assume they do. I might be wrong, I'm no botanist.
  - dTal 6y ago
    Isn't that a little like saying that a shiny red sports car is actually metallic gray, but it has a coating that alters our perception of it so that it appears red to our eyes? Color is what we perceive, nothing else. If it looks blue, it is blue.
    - Avamander 6y ago
      Well, if you look the world through blue-tinted windows it doesn't make the world suddenly bluer though. I think the same kind-of applies here.
      - TwelveNights 6y ago
        I think in this case the wax lining on the pines would be moreso a property of the object rather than the apparatus through which we see the object.
        yndoendo 6y ago
        Is not the category of it Photosynthesis? Internally the environment of Blue spruce is the evolutionary standard of Green, not Blue. The blue perception would also reflect a Blue perception of photosynthesis standard.
    - bregma 6y ago
      It's more like saying that the steel your shiny red sports car is made of is actually metallic grey even though it has a veneer of red enamel on it.
sgt101 6y ago
Interestingly, when organisms retain this kind of diversity it is because of the evolutionary advantage that it confers. In this case that would be the ability of plants in general to evolve towards other colors. For this to be an advantage the driver for that would have to be present in our long term environment. Possibly some sort of moderator appears in the atmosphere? Or does the spectra of the sun change due to some process?
- learnstats2 6y ago
  I think trying to identify evolutionary motivation is generally risky and subject to all kinds of human biases. Any hypothesis is unfalsifiable (so, it's speculation, not science). Having said that, "Green = provides a convenient way for animals to identify a great source of energy" is likely to be one driver here.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  Perhaps the sun isn't the reason. I believe some plants hide from certain kind of predators by changing their colors or maybe they could draw certain insects or birds for additional pollination. Perhaps that was a more significant advantage.
Shivetya 6y ago
For color variety, depending on yard location, I have a variation of Loropetalum, one Lilac, and a Japanese Maple. Had a pair of plum trees but the ornamental variety you can buy tends to not last as long. For low ground stuff Nandina can offer greens, reds, and yellows, in good variety.
mutatio 6y ago
Isn't that a cultivar though, artificially maintained in horticulture. Does it occur in significant numbers in wild populations?
tipoftheiceberg 6y ago
The only blue flowers we have are dyed. We do not know of any “true blue” plant pigments. There are violets and many colors that might look close..
- eggsnbacon1 6y ago
  I have seen many blue flowers personally but since this is a trustworthy internet forum I believe you
  - tipoftheiceberg 6y ago
    Fwiw, I hold a degree in Horticulture. A good source is David Lee, author of Nature's Palette: The Science of Plant Color and a retired professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University in Miami.
    - vilhelm_s 6y ago
      Maybe there's some kind of definition that make this make sense? On the face of it it seems very weird to claim that "this is actually a red pigment, it just looks blue". Why not say that it's a blue pigment which looks red in certain pH conditions?
      - tipoftheiceberg 6y ago
        https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is-the-colour-blue-so-rare-in-nature https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is...
        vilhelm_s 6y ago
        The article seems nonsensical in the same way, though. > For plants, blue is achieved by mixing naturally occurring pigments, very much as an artist would mix colours. The most commonly used are the red pigments, called anthocyanins, and whose appearance can be changed by varying acidity. It's just saying the same thing, "a red pigment appearing blue", without any explanation. (Also, as artists know, blue and red are primary colors, you can't get blue by mixing red paints.)

MarkSweep 6y ago

A blue spruce is a fairly blue tree: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_spruce https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_spruce

bregma 6y ago
Blue spruce is actually pretty darn green, but its needs have a waxy coating that alters our perception of the colour of the underlying tissue. New needles, and needles you scrape with your fingernails, reveal their true green colour. A waxy coating is a strong selector for survival in an environment where preventing evaporation is a must, such as locations in which the ambient temperature drops below the freezing point of water for much of the year.
- SECProto 6y ago
  Do black spruce have a waxy coating? They certainly don't appear blue, and they thrive in locations with much colder winters than the blue spruce.
  - piva00 6y ago
    As far as I know all coniferous (Pinophyta) have waxy coatings, black spruces are a species of Pinophyta so I'd assume they do. I might be wrong, I'm no botanist.
- dTal 6y ago
  Isn't that a little like saying that a shiny red sports car is actually metallic gray, but it has a coating that alters our perception of it so that it appears red to our eyes? Color is what we perceive, nothing else. If it looks blue, it is blue.
  - Avamander 6y ago
    Well, if you look the world through blue-tinted windows it doesn't make the world suddenly bluer though. I think the same kind-of applies here.
    - TwelveNights 6y ago
      I think in this case the wax lining on the pines would be moreso a property of the object rather than the apparatus through which we see the object.
      - yndoendo 6y ago
        Is not the category of it Photosynthesis? Internally the environment of Blue spruce is the evolutionary standard of Green, not Blue. The blue perception would also reflect a Blue perception of photosynthesis standard.
  - bregma 6y ago
    It's more like saying that the steel your shiny red sports car is made of is actually metallic grey even though it has a veneer of red enamel on it.

sgt101 6y ago

Interestingly, when organisms retain this kind of diversity it is because of the evolutionary advantage that it confers. In this case that would be the ability of plants in general to evolve towards other colors. For this to be an advantage the driver for that would have to be present in our long term environment. Possibly some sort of moderator appears in the atmosphere? Or does the spectra of the sun change due to some process?

learnstats2 6y ago
I think trying to identify evolutionary motivation is generally risky and subject to all kinds of human biases. Any hypothesis is unfalsifiable (so, it's speculation, not science). Having said that, "Green = provides a convenient way for animals to identify a great source of energy" is likely to be one driver here.
raxxorrax 6y ago
Perhaps the sun isn't the reason. I believe some plants hide from certain kind of predators by changing their colors or maybe they could draw certain insects or birds for additional pollination. Perhaps that was a more significant advantage.

Shivetya 6y ago

For color variety, depending on yard location, I have a variation of Loropetalum, one Lilac, and a Japanese Maple. Had a pair of plum trees but the ornamental variety you can buy tends to not last as long. For low ground stuff Nandina can offer greens, reds, and yellows, in good variety.

mutatio 6y ago

Isn't that a cultivar though, artificially maintained in horticulture. Does it occur in significant numbers in wild populations?

tipoftheiceberg 6y ago

The only blue flowers we have are dyed. We do not know of any “true blue” plant pigments. There are violets and many colors that might look close..

eggsnbacon1 6y ago
I have seen many blue flowers personally but since this is a trustworthy internet forum I believe you
- tipoftheiceberg 6y ago
  Fwiw, I hold a degree in Horticulture. A good source is David Lee, author of Nature's Palette: The Science of Plant Color and a retired professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University in Miami.
  - vilhelm_s 6y ago
    Maybe there's some kind of definition that make this make sense? On the face of it it seems very weird to claim that "this is actually a red pigment, it just looks blue". Why not say that it's a blue pigment which looks red in certain pH conditions?
    - tipoftheiceberg 6y ago
      https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is-the-colour-blue-so-rare-in-nature https://sciences.adelaide.edu.au/news/list/2019/08/20/why-is...
      - vilhelm_s 6y ago
        The article seems nonsensical in the same way, though. > For plants, blue is achieved by mixing naturally occurring pigments, very much as an artist would mix colours. The most commonly used are the red pigments, called anthocyanins, and whose appearance can be changed by varying acidity. It's just saying the same thing, "a red pigment appearing blue", without any explanation. (Also, as artists know, blue and red are primary colors, you can't get blue by mixing red paints.)