If a plant has a high amount of the orange pigment carotene, what color leaves would it have, and why?

BRY2K

I don't know if this fact is transferreable to other species, but based on what I learned about carrot pigmentation I would have to answer ORANGE. The orange colour is due to a very high level of the yellow-orange plant pigment known (reasonably enough) as carotene. Although almost all plants contain this yellow pigment, the more conspicuous chlorophyll pigment (green) usually obscures it from view. When chlorophyll breaks down in autumn, or when a plant is suffering from poor nutrition, the underlying yellow carotene pigments of leaves become obvious. http://www.carrotmuseum.co.uk/today.html Aug 24 08, 3:06 PM

zbeckabee

Another pigment found in the leaves of many plants is carotene. Carotene absorbs blue-green and blue light. The light reflected from carotene appears yellow. Carotene is also a large molecule (C40H36) contained in the chloroplasts of many plants. When carotene and chlorophyll occur in the same leaf, together they remove red, blue-green, and blue light from sunlight that falls on the leaf. The light reflected by the leaf appears green. Carotene functions as an accessory absorber. The energy of the light absorbed by carotene is transferred to chlorophyll, which uses the energy in photosynthesis. Carotene is a much more stable compound than chlorophyll. Carotene persists in leaves even when chlorophyll has disappeared. When chlorophyll disappears from a leaf, the remaining carotene causes the leaf to appear yellow. http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/CHEMWEEK/fallcolr/fallcolr.html Aug 24 08, 3:29 PM