# Why aren't plants black?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-plants-black/107701>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 7, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-plants-black/107701 "2002-05-07T12:00:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 1

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**Author:** ![bferullo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a587f6/32.png) [@bferullo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bferullo)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2002, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-plants-black/107701/1 "2002-05-07T12:00:42Z")

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This popped into my head just before I went to bed last night, so don’t expect it to make a whole lot of sense.

Essentially, what’s so special about non-green light? Wouldn’t it be more energy-efficient for a chloroplast to absorb _all_ wavelengths of light (or even, all wavelengths in the visible spectrum)? Is it a heat thing? Would a black plant absorb so much energy that it bursts into flames, ruining my curtains?

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