Originally Posted by
anacapamalibu
Years ago when the city of Beijing needed to plant trees for shade and to help improve air quality, poplar and willow trees were planted due to their fast growth and hearty nature in the tough Beijing climate. But those lovely trees are the very culprits of the flurry.catskins....fluffy things you see around at this time of year, sometimes so plentiful that they obstruct your view when driving or riding a bike..
I know a lot of people here in Calgary blame the white poplar fluff for their allergies every year - but those actually have very large pollen molecules which don't cause many (or any) people problems. They're just very visible and people assume that is what causes their allergies, when in reality it's usually the invisible grass/etc pollen that really irritates them.