Love Is In the Air or What's All Over My Car?
A Story about Live Oaks, Pollen, and Understanding By Laurie Sheldon Writing in a layer of pollen on a vehicle. Source: www.sciencephoto.com/media/84104/enlarge Aah, spring… the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the oaks are leafing out and my neighborhood is plastered in yellow. No, we don’t have a Post-it® fetish. It’s pollen, and it’s earlier and thicker than usual this year. Don’t go hating on the oak trees, though - it’s not really their fault. They are simply responding to the climbing temperature. The fresh air and changes in wind which push out at least some of the pollen come from the cold fronts we normally have in early spring. These beneficial fronts have been m.i.a. this year, which has left us roosting in an inert yellow cloud. On the bright side, however, is the effect that this abundance of pollen has had on my curiosity. It occurred to me that, while fairly knowledgeable about zoophyly ...