Vintage Printable Fall / Autumn Leaves Charts

These fabulous autumn leaves charts are from a vintage book simply called “Autumnal leaves” by Francis George Heath, published in 1885.

There are also some additional leaf illustrations from the New York fisheries report at the end.

Fall in North America is what the rest of the world calls Autumn. It starts with the  September equinox (21 to 24 September) and ends with the winter solstice (21 or 22 December).

Spring is when the flowers bloom and make the world look beautiful. Whereas, Fall is when the leaves of deciduous trees change to beautiful autumnal colors.

In certain parts of the world where there are large amounts of deciduous trees such as New England and Eastern Canada this can be rather stunning spectacle.

Fun Facts about Autumnal Leaves

• The term “fall” originates from Elizabethan times and relates to falling leaves.
• The more spectacular colorful autumn leaves are in the forests of the Northern Hemisphere.
•  Leaves are full of chlorophyll, when the leaves get less sunshine, chlorophyll isn’t produced as much, making the green color fade. This allows for the natural color of the leaves to come through which can be red, orange, yellow, purple or brown.
• The leaves on diseased trees will change color and drop before well trees of the same species.
• Different species of trees have leaves of different colors.  For example, Red Maples turn scarlet whereas other Maples such as the sugar maple autumn leaves are more orange.
• Color pigments in a leaf are determined by the amount of sugar in the leaf. Lots of dry weather and sunlight will lead to more sugars in the leaves, meaning the leaves will be a brighter red. Freezing, meanwhile, stops the process of making red pigments.
• The fallen leaves make great compost.
• Leaves that fall to the ground during autumn are extremely important for the ecosystem, as the resulting mulch provides protection for tree seeds as they germinate during the winter.
• The shorter days and less daylight have more of an impact on fall leaves changing color, than temperature.
• Losing their leaves gives trees a rest from the energy-sapping process of Photosynthesis.

How To Download The Autumn Leaves Charts

Click on the title above the autumn leaf print that you want. A higher resolution of that print will open in a new window in your browser. If you then right-click on that fall leaves image, you will have the option to save it to your device.

1. Oak, Elm & Ash Fall Leaves Chart

Illustration of 14 autumnal leaves, described as:

• 1-4 Oak
• 5- 13 Elm
• 14 Ash

2. Beech Lime & Ivy Autumnal Leaves

A drawing of 13 different leaves from the following trees:

• 1- 5 Beech
• 6 – 9 Lime
• 10 – 13 Ivy

3. Chestnut & Walnut Leaves

• 1-3 Chestnut leaf
• 4-5 Walnut Leaf

4. Horse Chestnut & Sycamore

• 1-2 Horse Chestnut leaves
• 3 Sycamore leaf

5. Western Plane and Oriental Plane Tree Leaf Illustrations

• 1-2 Western Plane tree leaves
• 3-4 Oriental Plane tree leaves

6. Autumn Leaves of the Maple and Spindle Tree

• 1- 10 Maple tree fall leaves drawing
• 11-18 Spindle tree leaves drawing

7. Mountain Ash to Cherry Tree

An illustration of 12 fall leaves as follows:

• 1 Mountain Ask
• 2 and 3 Guelder Rose
• 4 and 5 Wayfaring Tree
• 6 to 9 Cherry
• 10 to 12 Bird Cherry.

8. Autumnal Leaves Illustration Plate 8

18 leaf drawings from 3 different types of tree, as follows:

• 1 to 5 Wild Service Tree
• 6 to 12 Apple Tree
• 13 to 18 White Beam

9. Plate 9 Autumn Leaves Charts

21 leaf illustrations from 4 different trees, as follows:

• 1 to 4 Hornbeam
• 5 to 9 Hazel
• 10 to 12 Birch
• 13 to 20 Barberry
• 21 Alder

10. Autumnal / Fall Leaves Plate 10

There are 26 fall leaves illustrated in this first chart, they are as follows.

• 1 to 3 Loxnbardy Poplar
• 4 to 6 White Poplar
• 7 to 9 Black Poplar
• 10 to 13 Aspen
• 14 to 20 Willow
• 21 to 26 Alder Buckthorn

11. Autumn Leaves Chart Plate 11

There are 28 leaves on this leaf identification chart from 5 different trees.

• 1 to 9 Hawthorn
• 10 to 14 Blackthorn
• 15 to 22 Dogwood
• 23 to 25 Medlar
• 26 to 28 Quince

12. Bramble Leaves

Illustration of 11 sets of bramble leaves.

More Colorful Fall Leaf Illustrations

Whilst searching for the fall leaf illustrations shown above, I also came across these more colorful examples. As these leaves really show the beauty of the fall colors, I thought it would be great to share them as well.

All the illustrations below come from the “Annual report of the Commissioners of Fisheries, Game and Forests of the State of New York (1902)”.

The introduction to Autumn foliage in the report is quoted as.

“In the selection of species for street and highway planting some consideration should be given to the colors which the leaves will display in the fall months, a matter as important as that of tree habit or graceful outline.

Although a purely esthetic one its importance has been urged at times by scientists as well as writers on woodland scenery. We hail with pleasure the green foliage of each returning spring, but delight nonetheless in the brilliant display made by the painted leaves in autumn, and, so, when we come to choose our trees for planting, everything else being equal, why not give a preference to the species which afford a pleasing aspect in both spring and fall.“

13. Hard Maple And Red Oak

14. Chestnut and White Maple Leaves

15. Tulip Tree, Sweet Gum & Scarlet Oak Leaf Drawings

16. Sassafras and Pepperidge

17. Red Maple, Tamarack & White Pine

18. Basswood etc

A collection of fall leaf illustrations including

Basswood, White Cedar, Flowering Dogwood & Shagbark Hickory.

19. White Elm to Ash Tree Leaves

White Elm, Red Spruce, Beech & White Ash autumn foliage.

20. Aspen etc

Aspen, White Oak, Balsam Fir, Yellow Birch & White Willow.

If you liked these autumnal and fall leaves prints and charts, there are many more related images in the botanicals section of Pictureboxblue.

There are the amazing tree posters from Larousse, vintage pine cone botanical drawings. If you want drawings of leaves in the spring rather than the fall check out these forest botanical leaf prints and these woodland botanical prints.