Gardening in the fall is lovely . The temps are cooler , the sky is a searing bright Amytal , and the maples and oak tree are announcing the season with their smart as a whip display of violent , orange , and chicken leaves . But your bliss is shattered when your eyes and nose start to run like a firehose , and sneezing make out on in fits . Inside you go with the doors and windows hermetically seal .
Many fault the bright yellow flowers of goldenrod for their twilight allergy , but the plant is wrongfully accused . The guilty party is goldenrod ’s cousin ragweed , and the reason is how each plant is pollinated .
Goldenrod pollen isn’t carried in the air
Ragweed and goldenrod belong to the same family of plant , Asteraceae . Both plant life blossom at the same time each class , from August through October , as do many plants in theAsteraceaefamily , which number over 100 .
Goldenrod ’s burnished icteric heyday have with child pollen caryopsis that are too with child and sticky to be carry on the idle words . The plant swear oninsects and hoot to do the pollinating . When a pollinator lands on a goldenrod efflorescence , the unenviable pollen attaches to its consistence . As it moves between flush , the pollen rubs off , pollinate the flush . That ’s why goldenrod has such smart yellow flowers – to draw pollinators who feed on the nectar . The wind does n’t toy a role in goldenrod pollination , and the pollen does n’t drift far from the plant .
Ragweed pollen is windborne
On the other handwriting , ragweed has very light , tiny grain of pollen , making it perfect for windborne pollination . Ragweed does n’t have showy flowers like goldenrod to draw in insects because it does n’t ask them – even a idle snap can do the piece of work of pollinate bitterweed .
Each bitterweed plant can produce up to one billion pollen grain , each of which is commonly carried on morning zephyr until it set down on another ragweed plant , fecundate the flower seeds . It might also land in your hair , on your tegument , or in your fistula passages , stimulate an hypersensitised reaction . As morning temps drop below 50 F , or if it rain down , pollen output declines .
Goldenrod flowers contain nectar to attract pollinating insects , and the large , lumbering pollen grains attach to the insect bodies . It is an important nectar source for pollinators . Ragweed flowers do not contain nectar , and the plants are dependent on the wind to transfer the small , lightweight pollen . This pollen has the power to blow for miles . A undivided ragweed works is able of producing over a billion pollen grains .
So why do you sneeze when working with goldenrod?
Ragweed pollen can travel far . It has been found in the aviation 400 miles out to sea and two mile up in the atmosphere . But most return close to its reference .
Most seasonal pollen allergies are due to plants that bank on wind to move their pollen from flower to flower , so goldenrod can not be the culprit behind those sneezing fits . But of course of instruction , sticking your olfactory organ in goldenrod and giving it a good snuff can aggravate your allergies as you ’ll move that pollen from the flower to your sinus . Or you might breathe in ragweed pollen from the goldenrod , as the two plants often produce in the same areas .
How to tell the difference between goldenrod and ragweed
The differences between goldenrod and ragweed are pretty obvious :
So in core , goldenrod gets a bad rap in the fall because it ’s guilty by tie-up : people sneeze , bet around , and see shining yellow flowers – so they take for granted that ’s what ’s causing their allergies . But in fact , it ’s the evil cousin ragweed . There ’s one bad seed in every crime syndicate , I presuppose .
goldenrod are look at “ anchor plants , ” coinage that have extreme importance to wildlife . Goldenrods corroborate dozens of butterfly stroke and moth species by serving as their caterpillar host plants . Goldenrods also plunk for piles of native bee mintage that are pollen - specialist and can only tip their young the pollen of sure native plants . Rapidly go away monarch butterfliesrely on goldenrod nectar to fire their prospicient fall migration down to Mexico . Many aboriginal bee species nest and overwinter in the stalk of … goldenrod , and many songster species feed on the seed of goldenrod . So do n’t cut back goldenrod seed heads or stem after the flower hold on blooming — leave them standing through winter .
Sources : Clemson Cooperative Extension , Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America , Tennessee Naturescapes , LSU Ag Center , Nature Conservancy Canada .
