Hidden Nature

Trees and colour

Fig. 14.2. The electromagnetic spectrum.

Another symbiotic relationship between trees and human beings

is found with colour. The graph below (Fig. 14.2) shows the rela-

tive intensities of radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum, from

the ultraviolet on the left through the visual spectrum to the

infrared on the right. The darkest line shows the intensity of solar

radiation relative to frequency or to the various shades of colour.

In the visible part of the spectrum there is high human sensitivity

to the green and low to the red and ultraviolet, whereas with the

tree it is the opposite. A tree's sensitivity to light is a mirror to the

human's.

The highest intensity of solar radiation is found in the green part

of the spectrum. The tree cannot use these frequencies for its

growth, for the greens induce dormancy. Whatever colour or fre-

quency is not absorbed, is reflected. A red surface, for example,

HIDDEN NATURE