A Plant with Red Leaves?

Greetings.

I have a plant with dark maroon leaves. I wonder how it makes its food, as the leaves are not green and thus no chlorophyll for photosynthesis.

Secondly, I have a polka dot which is withering away after replacing soil, altho 2 other plants have their soil replaced but are doing great. Are Polkas sensitive to soil / root disturbance?

Thanks

amer

(p.s. none seems to respond to a question about growing witch hazels in USDA zone 11. If anyone has, pls. tell me).

<< I have a plant with dark maroon leaves. I wonder how it makes its food, as the leaves are not green >> Yes they are. The green is covered up by red pigment, but it works fine. If you locate a red leaved tree outdoors, like a red Japanese maple, look at its color now, and then look at it again in the fall just before the leaves drop (when the chlorophyll is gone), and you will see a different shade of red. Polka dot plant is useful as an outdoor bedding annual, but I found it is not a suitable house plant. Forget it.

Iris, Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40 'The trouble with people is not that they don't know but that they know so much that ain't so.' Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw), 1818-1885

There IS chrorophyll, but it is masked by the red pigment.

Witch Hazel? Like winter chill, and I don't think Zone 11 has enough of it.

Tsu Dho Nimh

It is my job to completely create professional technology in order that we may seamlessly supply competitive data.

Other pigments such as anthocyanins (red) can mask the green chlorophyll pigments. I have a mayday cherry tree which is a nice green in the spring & early summer and then slowly changes to a dark maroon colour as the anthocyanins accumulate later in the year.

Usually, it's the chlorophyll which is the stronger colour but it breaks down first in the fall which allows the other pigments (yellow and red) to show through and give us the fall colours.

Thomas Dzubin

I put this question years ago to a person who taught biology at university, and was told that whilst chlorophyll is the main chemical used in photosynthesis, there are several others that do the job as well. These can be found in plants with coloured leaves especially red and yellow. I forget the names he gave,....well to be honest I had forgotten in less than an hour.

David Hill Abacus Nurseries