Not so fast blaming pines for itchy eyes, runny noses

I'm an allergy sufferer.

I remember my grandpa carried a white handkerchief neatly folded in his pocket. He'd bury his big red nose in it and blow, then fold it up nice and neat and put it back into his pocket. It was gross.

As a kid, I could rarely breathe out both nostrils. One clear nostril was a good day. I shook the bunk bed with my snoring until my tonsils were removed and opened up some breathing room. That night, my little brother ran to my parents' bedroom and told them I was dead.

He thought I stopped breathing.

Pollen affects some 35 million allergy sufferers with itchy eyes and runny noses and pounding sinuses. Most pollen invisibly floats around, but in the Lowcountry, there's nothing invisible about pine pollen. It will dust our homes, our cars and anything not hermetically sealed with a yellow coat. However, before you begin cursing pine trees for the misery, the source of allergies usually is from other plants.

Pines are not loved by many homeowners. The limbs break easily and needles can make a mess of gutters. Most neighborhood pines are loblolly pines, but you also may find a lot of slash pine and Virginia pine. Longleaf pine is a highly valued native that is seen less and less. Some estimate less than 3 percent of original stands remain since colonization, as it's been replaced by the previously mentioned faster-growing pines.

Its decline is linked to the endangerment of red-cockaded woodpeckers that make their home in the trunks. The initial growth stage of longleaf pine looks like a long feather duster of green needles that grows very slowly for several years. It grows much faster after that. The stumps of old trees are saturated with resin and will not rot. The resinous wood, called fatwood or fat lighter, is highly flammable and great for kindling.

Pine pollen is considered too heavy to be airborne long enough to get up your nose. Pollen is microscopic grains produced from male flowers. Their mission: to find the female flower and fertilize it. Insects help out by unknowingly carrying pollen from flower to flower, but many plants produce light, dry grains of pollen to ride the wind, flooding the air in hopes of landing on a receptive flower to fertilize. It can be a long ride, too. Some sources claim pollen can travel 400 miles out to sea and two miles into the sky. And a random chance to find a receptive female flower requires a lot of pollen. A single ragweed is said to generate a million grains of pollen a day.

Tree pollen kicks off allergies in March, followed by grass pollen, then weeds. Trees such as cedar, oak, pecan and elm also are known allergens. While there are more than a thousand species of grasses in North America, only a few are said to produce highly allergenic pollen, one of them being bermudagrass.

Guess what the most common turfgrass is growing all across the South, from the coast to coast? That would be bermudagrass.

Weeds are considered some of the worst pollen allergens. Ragweed is often the most wanted of the bunch. So you see, there's no possibility to remove the source of allergenic misery. Your options are to treat the symptoms or reduce the exposure.

Pollen count is a measure of grains of pollen per square meter collected over 24 hours. Reports can be found at the Weather Station (www.weather.com) or numerous other news outlets to predict allergic reactions. Mornings have the highest pollen counts, especially on warm, dry, windy days. Rain tends to knock pollen out of the air. Avoiding outdoor activities in the morning and keeping windows closed can reduce exposure.

I eventually got medicated for allergies but still carry a handkerchief, although mine is more like a bandanna stuffed in my pocket, not folded. It's still gross.

Tony Bertauski is a horticulture instructor at Trident Technical College. To give feedback, e-mail him at tony.bertauski@tridenttech.edu.