Why do some...
 

....dead leaves hang onto their branches longer than others?

Why do some...
 

On Dec 9, 10:58*am, Boater wrote:
...dead leaves hang onto their branches longer than others?

Googling skills out of whack?

Scarlet oak provides a special bonus for our autumn enjoyment. Its
leaves stay attached to the tree into the winter. Normally, leaves of
deciduous trees are shed in the fall after a special layer of cells
forms at the base of the petiole (the abscission zone). With a little
wind, these thin cells break and the leaf falls. In so-called
marcescent (leaves withering but not falling off) species, including
many oaks and beech, the abscission zone doesn’t begin to form until
winter, and the leaves are not shed until winter or spring. One writer
speculates that the pilgrims landing at Plymouth Rock must have
appreciated scarlet oak as the only tree in the forest that still had
leaves. While the veracity of this story seems tenuous, the idea that
scarlet oak is a species to enjoy is solid as an oak.