Article: A NATURAL DEFENSE? RED LEAVES FROM MAPLES MAY STOP OTHER PLANTS SHORT.(Local)

Byline: Sapna Kollali Staff writer

Fruitless gardeners take note: It may not be your black thumb, after all. Central New York's sugar maple trees may be to blame for your landscaping failures.

Colgate University biology professor Frank Frey says the area's abundant sugar maples may be using their red leaves to poison the competition. He and a former student have found the red pigment hinders the growth of lettuce seeds.

"This is very preliminary research," Frey said. "We may find it's true for other plants as well."

He believes the research, which he hopes to publish in a national science journal, eventually could lead to advances in ...

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