HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — So many people are suffering from all the pollen out there right now.
“In the spring, we’ll see the trees start to release their pollen… as trees come out of their dormant season,” said Alyssa Vinson, Urban Forestry Extension Agent for Hillsborough County.
This happens as trees get ready to reproduce.
“Pollen is the male genetic information from a plant,” said Vinson.
Flower pollen is dispersed by insects, and most tree pollen is dispersed by the wind, which is what's happening right now—and why your car may be yellow.
The four major trees producing pollen right now are Cedars, Oaks, Pines and Elms.
The weather can impact when pollen season starts and how much of it there is.
“There are year-on-year fluctuations in the amount of pollen that trees will produce," said Vinson.
She said it’s possible last year’s back-to-back hurricanes may be causing trees to produce more pollen this year.
“Sometimes they’ll produce more pollen after a major stress event, so it’s possible that having had our two major hurricanes last year with inundated soils and lots of wind, trees are a little bit stressed out, some of them might be producing more pollen,” said Vinson.
While spring pollen season does end, we won’t really see things get much better until the end of May.
Although it can be annoying to deal with, Vinson believes it’s important to remember that pollen is a good thing.
“I think that folks get really up in arms about pollen, but it’s a necessary function of plants in order for them to reproduce, and it’s something that is going to happen and has been happening since the dawn of time,” said Vinson.
