Of gorse, it’s hayfever time
Runny nose? Sneezing? Itchy red eyes? Blame these hay fever-inducing plants for your misery, says Mei Leng Wong.
Abeautiful, natural environment is one of the many perks of living in New Zealand. For the hundreds of thousands who suffer from hay fever though, that may feel like a high price to pay, especially about now as they sneeze and tear up, thanks to all the pollen in the air.
‘‘Some of the reasons we have high rates of hay fever are our environment,’’ says Allergy New Zealand allergy adviser Penny Jorgensen. ‘‘Grass is widespread across the country and we’ve got a windy climate that blows pollen around. Grass pollen is a major trigger.’’
If only it was just grass though. Here’s a list of the top pollen producers, according to Allergy NZ’s pollen calendar.
Gorse
This plant’s pollen season lasts for a whopping nine months of the year, from autumn (March) until the end of spring in November.
And while the evidence connecting it to hay fever remains anecdotal, gorse is known to produce copious amounts of pollen and is widespread.
But while it’s easy to hate this prickly pest, gorse is an important food source for bees and pollinators, especially in winter, as well as an important nurse plant for regenerating bush.
Macrocarpa
Like gorse, macrocarpa trees are a familiar sight in rural New Zealand, which is rather unfortunate for hay fever sufferers as it produces pollen for eight months of the year, starting from wintry July to the end of summer in February.
Macrocarpa timber is prized for its durability, but its pollen is classified as a severe allergen.
Plantain
No, not a type of banana. Plantain, in Kiwi horticultural speak, refers to the low-growing weed that produces pollen for seven months of the year, starting in spring (September) until autumn in March.
While each plant produces only a small amount of pollen, plantain is widespread here and is grown as a pasture mix for dairy cows.
Ironically, the Herb Federation of New Zealand lists plantain (both Plantago major and Plantago lanceolata) as a medicinal plant.
Pine trees
A prolific pollen producer for half the year (July to December), the catkins containing pollen hang from the end of the pine branches.
A single mature Pinus radiata tree can produce half a kilogram to nearly 1kg of pollen each year (July to September), bad news if you live downwind of a pine forest.
Other pine species start producing pollen from September to December.
Olive
Olive trees produce pollen from October to March, and until the early 2000s, most New Zealanders didn’t know they were sensitive to the pollen because there just weren’t that many trees around.
This is slowly changing as the number of olive orchards increases. Currently Olives New Zealand, established only in 1996, has approximately 200 members, including olive growing enterprises which vary in size from homesteads with a few trees to commercial groves of 40,000 trees.
Meadow foxtail grass
Meadow foxtail starts churning out pollen from winter (as early as August) until the height of summer in January, and in many wet, low-lying areas, it is the first grass to flower in spring.
Other grasses also established as hay fever culprits include sweet vernal, tall fescue, ryegrass, prairie grass and various types of dogs-tail, though many won’t start producing pollen until September or October, finishing up during long, hot February days.
Privet
This evergreen tree only starts to produce pollen in late spring (November) up to early autumn (March), but anecdotally, privet is one of the most common hay fever triggers, possibly because it is widespread and hardy.
There are four species of privets in New Zealand, and all their leaves and berries are poisonous to people and animals. It is also an environmental pest that crowds out other trees and impedes seed germination, but like gorse, privet is much-loved by bees.
Other common garden weeds to watch out for if you need to manage your hay fever include nettle and dock (both produce pollen from October to February), and Chenopod weeds such as fathen (November to March).
Managing hay fever
Treatment depends on how severe your symptoms are. If they are mild, non-sedating antihistamines may be sufficient.
But ‘‘if these don’t help, the mainstay of treatment is nasal corticosteroid sprays used as a preventer, sometimes combined with antihistamines,’’ says Allergy NZ’s Jorgensen. ‘‘It
is recommended people see their GP as these can be on prescription and they need to be shown how to use them properly. It may take up to four weeks before you notice a difference, so persevere.’’
For persistent symptoms, immunotherapy is emerging as an option, but this is not funded by Pharmac and, ‘‘as it takes three to five years, requires a lot of commitment,’’ she adds.
Non-medical interventions include avoiding being outdoors on windy days, keeping windows closed and getting someone else to mow the lawns. Saline sinus rinses may help.
If you love cut flowers, it would make sense to stick to arrangements filled with large and showy bright-coloured blooms. These tend to rely on insects and birds to pollinate them.
‘‘It is very unlikely for cut flowers or indoor plants to be a cause of hay fever from pollen inside the house,’’ says Jorgensen. (In which case, look for other triggers setting off your sneezing.)
Jorgensen says that it is feasible that symptoms can also decrease as you get older or your environment changes, though this will need greater study.
After all, an environmental trigger may disappear when you change your environment. ‘‘I had a similar experience when my allergies disappeared when I lived in the UK for several years.’’
A single mature Pinus radiata tree can produce half a kilogram to nearly 1kg of pollen from June to September, bad news if you live downwind of a pine forest.