The fluff itself is not an allergen, but there’s more to the story
If you’ve been walking around Windsor recently and thought, “What the heck is this?” you’re not the only one.
This year, there seems to be a lot of poplar cotton, which is the white, almost snow-like substance that falls off the trees and collects in the grass and potholes. Experts say this is a sure sign that allergy season has begun.
Sandy MacDonald, a professor of landscape horticulture at St. Clair College, said that the fluff is made up of seed hairs from trees in the same family as poplars, aspens, and willows.
MacDonald said, “This is how the tree spreads its seeds. Inside that fuzz is a tiny seed, and of course that’s for spreading.” The seed can then float to a different place, sometimes hundreds of meters away.
“Once it gets wet, it can grow. And, of course, this is how the plant makes more plants.”
Poplar trees, whose name comes from the Latin root “populus,” are very common in Canada, as their name suggests. MacDonald said that they are often planted in cities because they are fairly tolerant: they can handle the pollution, compacted soil, flooding, and extra salt that are common in cities.
He said that other common trees in the same family, like willows and aspens, also make the fluff, so Canadians will notice it from coast to coast.
During this time of year, a lot of people have seasonal allergies and may blame the fluff. MacDonald said that the fluff itself is not an allergen, but that doesn’t mean the story is over.
Listen: Sandy MacDonald joins Nav Nanwa on Windsor Morning.
“If you breathe it in, it can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat in some ways…”That could mean irritation, so it could be mistaken for an allergy symptom,” MacDonald said.
“But there is also some evidence that other pollen in the air, which comes from other trees that are pollinating, can also carry the disease.
“But, technically speaking, we don’t think that most people are actually allergic to that fuzz itself.”
People with seasonal allergies are going to their local pharmacy more
The owner of Rob’s Whole Health Pharmacy in LaSalle is Rob Modestino. He said that seeing the fluff is a sure sign that allergy season is here.
“This year, we’re seeing more people who say they’ve never had allergies before than we ever have before. Do we really think it’s allergies? Are we sure?’
“Most people who come in think they have a cold, the flu, or a bacterial infection. Then, when you look into it more and find out more, you realize that it is allergies. It seems like things have gotten a lot worse in the last few years.”
Modestino said that people should close their windows to keep pollen out and take allergy medicine if they need to. Some signs of a cold are a runny nose, itchy eyes, and sneezing.
Modestino said that people should talk to their pharmacist before taking allergy medicine. This year, pharmacists can also test for and prescribe allergy medicines that may work better than over-the-counter medicines for people with more severe seasonal allergies.
This year, there’s more fluff than usual
There might be more fluff than usual, which is probably due to the weather. MacDonald said that the last few weeks of hot, dry weather, the lack of a late frost, and the last two hot, dry summers, which stressed the trees and made them need to spread more seeds, could all be factors.
MacDonald said that the fluff can be burned, so some people use it to start a fire.
But people have found other ways to use it, like stuffing pillows with it and using it as a fiber. Both don’t work well. It turns out that what it does best is also what it’s supposed to do.
“Even though they’re very small, they have a hollow core in the middle, which helps keep water for the seeds as they grow,” he said.
“They have a really interesting shape, and it makes sense that it works well for the seed to grow.”