Shades of green

Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a green or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these various colors is shown below.

Green in nature

Green is common in nature, especially in plants. Many plants are green mainly because of a complex chemical known as chlorophyll which is involved in photosynthesis. Many shades of green have been named after plants or are related to plants. Due to varying ratios of chlorophylls (and different amounts as well as other plant pigments being present), the plant kingdom exhibits many shades of green in both hue (true color) and value (lightness/darkness). The chlorophylls in living plants have distinctive green colors, while dried or cooked portions of plants are different shades of green due to the chlorophyll molecules losing their inner magnesium ion.