After ruling out COVID with two separate tests, I was confident it was “just” my allergies getting the best of me, I decided to take a sick day. I wasn’t really sick, but I was feeling run down and miserable due to dealing with itchy eyes and scratchy throat and the rest of what makes allergies such a pain to deal with. So, here at home in my pajamas and a fresh cup of coffee, I decided to learn about allergies.

And, as I read, I learned that my allergies are due to decades of botanical sexism in town landscape management plans.

According to the experts, male plants are not the messy ones in the plant world; they shed no messy seeds, fruit, or pods.

In 1939, an article on planting trees in parks and along municipalities’ roads it was recommended only the male trees should be planted to avoid the nuisance of messy female trees. So, in a few short years, the USDA produced and released one hundred new red maple and hybrid-maple-clones and every single one of them was male.

Arborists are specially trained professional who deals with the art and science of planting, caring, maintaining, and diagnosing trees.

They began growing all male trees from cuttings, grafting, or budding. Because the new trees were clonal and the same sex as the donor tree, they came from they would be a cleaner choice to plant.

Soon they moved on to aspens, poplars, ash, willows, and other trees as well as junipers, pines, wax myrtles, yews just to name a few. The problem was that while these trees and shrubs are “litter-free,” they all produced a lot of pollen.

The big issue for allergy suffers is the pollen isn’t blowing in from hundreds of miles away. The greatest amount of pollen from a large tree will normally land within 20-30 feet from that tree and then allergies are triggered by an overdose of pollen.

I always thought that being exposed to tiny amounts of pollen was supposed to be a good thing but it’s when the pollen counts are high that the problems start. Some of the larger cities in the U.S. now have pollen-control ordinances banning the sale or planting of the worst of these pollen-producing males.

Trees clean pollution from the air as well as from the soil and water. But where do those toxins go once absorbed the tree? Into the tree itself. And, when male trees release pollen, the pollen contains those toxins that we breathe in.

Everyone is exposed and at risk. Children play harder than adults and as they play, they breathe harder breathing in 2-3 times more pollen than the average adult! This exposes them to the pollen overloads which result in allergies. The highest official pollen count ever recorded in the U.S. (70,000 grains of pollen in each cubic yard of air space) was recorded from the top of an elementary school where all the mature trees, except one, were clonal males.

When my doctor said I have “environmental allergies” he meant the pollens from trees, shrubs, grasses, and other plants were not my friends. Well, isn’t THAT ironic?

I asked besides the shots and daily allergy medication, what could I do. He suggested I limit my time outside (that advice was useless) use an air purifier at home and work, keep windows closed (also ignored), rid myself of the clothing as soon as possible and shower off those pollens, dry clothes inside instead of on a clothesline outside (ignored), and wear a mask.

Keep in mind that this was over 25 years ago. Wear a mask? I don’t think so. My, how times have changed!

I told him that I take a tablespoon of honey every day because several of my environmental colleagues suggested it. He shrugged and said it wouldn’t hurt to try that. He was also quick to point out that because bees don’t follow a consistent honey “recipe,” it’s difficult to know if it would really be helping.

“In contrast,” he said, “we know exactly what is in allergy shots.” I hate to agree with that theory, but it is true that pollen from flowers isn’t typically what causes annoying seasonal sniffles and irritated eyes. The pollen from trees, grasses, and weeds is what causes the irritating symptoms of seasonal allergies. Despite knowing this, I still take my tablespoon of honey each morning.

I remember my grandmother telling me that when she was a child, hardly anyone had allergies. She blamed it on everything she considered a modern convenience.

That’s a topic for another article but I am guessing she didn’t know that back in her day, female trees were planted much more frequently, and those female trees were removing pollution AND pollen from the air.

Female trees, even if they are messier have much to offer us. One large female tree may easily have millions of individual flowers as “she” blooms. These tiny flowers are slightly sticky and feathery, and they produce a small negative electrical impulse.

Pollen from male trees tumbles about in the air and picks up a positive electrical impulse. I had to think back to seventh grade science class and what I learned about positive and negative attractions. Opposites attract! The pollen grains do not just get to the female trees by accident; they are drawn to one another.

Female trees trap and remove substantial amounts of pollen from the air and turn it into seeds. Female trees (and female shrubs also) are not passively rooted to a spot doing nothing. They are active allergy-fighting trees!

The more female plants in a landscape, the less pollen there will be in the air in the immediate vicinity. By relying less on clonal males and planting more female trees and shrubs with their pollen-reducing potential, I just might breathe easier.

I don’t want to be sexist or anything ... but ... GO, FEMALE TREES, GO!

Jeannie Carl is a naturalist at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center in Summit Hill. The center rehabilitates injured animals and educates the public on a variety of wildlife found in the area. For information on the Carbon County Environmental Center, visit www.carboneec.org.