this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2025
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Because the way chlorophyll is shaped at a molecular level, it acts like a filter. It lets red and blue light pass, but reflects green light.
You might be thinking, well wouldn't it it better to absorb green too? Why didn't chlorophyll evolve to absorb all colors, making plants black? The answer is because evolution don't give a damn about the best way to do things, only the good enough way. Chlorophyll developed by random chance, and blue-green algea (with chlorophyll) beat red algae (with phycoerythrin) to evolving into complex plant structures.
Some plants do have black leaves
And red leaves
Yeah, but not due to photosynthesizing pigments, afaik. Only other pigmentation in the leaf. Though it may still be an adaptive benefit.
Most of these are probably under growth. Much of the light gets filtered by the time it gets to them and they evolved to maximize the remainder.
Warmer leaf may increase photosynthesis rate