Like the leaves of palms and the spiky, leafy foliage of the Norfolk pines which line Marine Parade in Napier.
They only change colour when they throw in the towel and decided enough's enough...and judging by the ill-shaped and famine-like appearance of some of them that time is clearly coming.
I looked them up and they can live up to 150 years...but only in semi-tropical regions where they enjoy what is dubbed "optimum" soil conditions.
Generally they go for about 130 years on average, by most accounts.
The Napier line-up, the original ones, were put it around the 1890s so they're edging toward 125 years old.
So the time is approaching and questions will of course be asked in terms of what goes in there to eventually replace them.
What will be there along that city-side strip in 2040?
Phoenix palms?
Aaah, let's leave that one alone for now.
So then fellow trunk spotters, the ones which succumb to the wiles of the sunlight, and the chemicals they contain, are called deciduous, but as I discovered this term does not simply relate to trees, for the teeth of youngsters can also be loosely termed as deciduous.
They fall out and are replaced.
And hopefully the youngsters take up a sound and solid regimen of tooth-brushing for we don't want them turning to evergreens.
So yes, the chemicals of nature dictate what and when are set to change their hues, and total attire for that matter, as winter approaches.
The deciduous chaps have stuff called chlorophyll in their leaves and this makes them green.
But as the sun starts to recede in the sky and the temperatures slip to condensation-on-the-windows level stuff called carotenoids begin to emerge and grow, and it makes leaves go yellow...and later down the track brown and red.
You may have encountered the occasional sweeper operator who has loudly mumbled "damned carotenoids" as they struggle to clear another culvert from leafy clusters.
The one thing about autumn, apart from the temporary mess (because leaves eventually dissolve) is that it can be a most colourful and attractively engaging time of the year.
Those multi-coloured trees get all the attention, from eyes and cameras, because they are a relatively brief point of difference to nature's landscape.
The evergreens sulk and seethe as they have to wear the same coloured coat and trousers all year round, and once...just once...they'd love to take all their clothes off and in three months time design and fit a whole new wardrobe.
Autumn is also a very popular time for writers and artists, and entertainers.
There's a song called Autumn Leaves which was written way, way back and put out by Nat King Cole in 1950.
Several others have covered it, including rock and blues fret man Eric Clapton.
It's also the title of a 1950s film that starred Cliff Robertson and Joan Crawford.
Clearly inspired by contact with chemicals like...chlorophyll and carotenoids...all legally acceptable though you understand.
So here we are, on the first day of the last month of autumn, and in 31 days time it will be winter...but only on paper.
Because a year or so back I remember June 1 arriving and when the clock struck 2pm that afternoon the outside temperature across the twin cities was a remarkable 19C.
Sure, it was a fluky sort of break in the usual meteorological tradition, but I do love a nice surprise, and the longer things of a chilling nature hold off the better it is for one and all.
Especially the trees.
The deciduous ones.
For they like to stay awake as long as they can so they can hear the evergreens moan their barks off about all the dead old leaves their green foliage is being mottled by when the winds arise and blow things their snooty way.
