Wednesday, April 9, 2014

New York City's street trees may be aggravating your allergies


Allergy season is upon us. If you're an allergy sufferer, you're probably stocking up on medications and planning new routes to avoid all those scenic but sneeze-inducing flower patches. But did you know that some of the biggest pollen producers aren't flowers? Many species of trees produce wind-blown pollen as well. While pollination is crucial for trees to reproduce, it can do a number on your allergies. It also doesn't help that some of the most popular street trees in New York City are also some of the top offenders when it comes to pollen and allergies.

With approximately 5.2 million trees growing on public and private property in New York City, it's likely you'll find yourself face-to-face with a pollen-producing tree. For the 2005-2006 NYC Street Tree Census, the City of New York Parks & Recreation created a handy resource to help in the identification of the most common street trees in the city.

Leaf Key for Tree Identification
Leaf Key for Tree Identification


If you're looking for tree identification on-the-go, you can also check out the LeafSnap app, which we previously mentioned in our "Three helpful mobile apps for people with allergies" post.

If you think you've got tree pollen allergies and want to be tested or have questions about other resources available to people with allergies, give us a call. We can be reached at 212-729-1283 or send us an email at info@hudsonallergy.com.