Copper Leaves before the Miombo Rains

Copper Leaves before the Miombo Rains is an original illustration set in Northern Zambia. It lies in the tropics, where the climate is tropical savanna — a pronounced dry season.

An immense low woodland canopy glows in blocks of burgundy, copper, and rusty red at the end of the dry season. Pale grass and dusty soil remain dry below, while a green riverside meadow cuts one open clearing through the otherwise continuous miombo trees.

Why does a dry woodland turn burgundy before the first rain arrives?

Many miombo trees shed old leaves during the dry season yet draw on deep roots to flush new foliage before the rains. Young leaves contain protective pigments and appear red or copper before turning green, so an apparently autumnal canopy can precede the wet season rather than winter. The vast even woodland, pre-rain color flush, and dambo-like meadow point to the miombo belt of south-central Africa.

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