The Cottonwood Tree

The Cottonwood Tree and it's flying seeds.

As we know, pollen is in the air, but there is no better tell tale sign than when you can actually see it flying through the air on cotton. The Cottonwood has two stages of seeding. 1. Is the release of yellow/green pollen and 2. Is the transcendence of the seeds in a fluffy white cotton.

Just because you see the fluff doesn't mean that what's causing allergies.

The Cottonwood is in the Poplar Family. This is the same family as the Juniper and Mulberry. 

Poplar Trees, otherwise known as cottonwood, is a pollen-producing tree that grows throughout North America. Poplar pollen induces a variety of allergic symptoms in some people, including asthma, red eyes and hay fever. Due to the similarities between the allergens in poplar pollen and proteins in some plant products, there is often a link between poplar tree allergies and a condition known as oral allergy syndrome.

Remember that it is usually the non-flowering trees that have smaller, lighter pollen and are more likely to cause more severe allergies.