Poplar pollen: information for allergy sufferers

A pollen allergy is an unpleasant reaction to the pollen from plants. You can find out what allergy sufferers should know about poplar pollen here.

Poplar pollen: You should know this as an allergy sufferer

Poplar pollen has only a low allergenic potency.

• The poplars bloom from early February to late May.
• The main season of flowering is from mid-March to mid-April.
• Poplar allergy sufferers often show cross allergies with nuts, almonds, apples, plums, kiwi, celery and carrots.
• A pollen allergy often manifests itself with a swollen nasal mucosa, red and itchy watery eyes and the urge to get rid of the pollen by sneezing.
• Sometimes the throat is a little scratchy and the voice sounds muddy. Overall, allergy symptoms are very similar to those of the first signs of a cold.
• Allergy can be treated acutely with appropriate hay fever medication and nasal clips that filter the pollen from the air we breathe.
• In the long term, desensitization can be helpful. Here, small amounts of the allergen are injected at certain intervals so that the body can get used to it and thus no longer overreacts to it.

How to recognize poplars

Poplars (Populus) belong to the willow family (Salicaceae). So that you as an allergy sufferer know how to recognize the trees, we have listed some features for you:

• They are common in temperate areas in the northern hemisphere, such as America or Europe.
• Poplars are deciduous trees or shrubs. They can reach a height of up to 45 meters.
• The bark is often rough and gray. Due to the high cellulose content of the wood, poplars are often used for paper production.
• The leaves of the poplar are heart-shaped and either entire or lobed with a very long petiole.
• The flowers are drooping, petiolated kittens and are found on the armpit of a bract, which is morphologically clearly distinguishable from the other leaves. This is rather round and serrated compared to the "normal" leaves.

You can find out when and where you are particularly at risk from pollen flight in this pollen flight map.