Upoffmebum

By Upoffmebum

Grapevine leaf

Found this on the driveway this morning.
Judging from its location right next to the grapevine, as well as its grapeviney sort of shape, I'm punting on this being a grapevine leaf. I can be very adept in picking up clues like that.
But what the hell happened or it to end up looking like this is far less certain.
Working hypothesis is that it had transitioned from bright green to pinky-red in the usual autumnal way, but then, for unknown reasons, fell off its perch prematurely. Right now, strong wind is in the frame for that, but it could well have been due to some form of accidental human intervention (or intervening human accident).
Then it stayed on or near the driveway for a few days, curling up at the edges and losing almost all of its red colouring, save for the odd splotch around the bottom edges.
The dark colouring running around the inside edge I'm putting down to a touch of hot sun exposure, which speeded up the moisture drying process - and the dying process - and was possibly responsible for turning the affected areas from an appealing bright red to a drab, dark green-black.
Obviously well buffeted during this time, the leaf incurred a few nasty tears around the edges, a 3-pronged piercing (right of centre), and a rather neatly shaped perforation (near the bottom centre), complete with its own hole-shaped trapdoor.
So it's not all beer and skittles in the garden during autumn. Sure, there are lots of plants and trees with lots of leaves shedding their summer colours, and turning into very attractive seasonal displays of shades-of-reddy-brown.
But for those leaves which somehow become detached from their mother-plant in advance of their use-by date, a far less glamorous transition awaits.

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