Botany

Young oaks and beeches cling to brown, papery leaves straight through the snow. The mechanism is well understood; the purpose is still a genuine scientific argument.

Day length, the normal trigger for fall color, is the same every year. When a tree turns weeks early, drought or damage is usually doing the work, and 2026 has offered plenty of both.

Plants that fold their leaves at night aren't wilting or sleeping — they're running an evolved, energy-spending routine called nyctinasty.