Allergies to Mountain Cedar

Filed in archive Hay Fever , Living with Allergies on July 12, 2006

If you think you have pollen allergies, forget about moving to Austin, Texas.

"People who have pre-existing allergies, usually within a year to five years after moving here, will have a sudden onset of sneezing, itchy eyes. This stuff develops around Christmas and lasts for six weeks," Dr. Dennis Dyer, physician at Austin Allergy, said.

Apprently, the biggest offender are the pollen coming form Mountain cedar, Juniperus ashei, said to be one of the most potent allergens in the US. Mountain cedar is also different to other trees, since the peak of pollination occurs in December. Thus, instead of "spring fever", the so-called cedar fever occurs in the middle of winter.

Just how bad is the cedar fever? Patricia Sharpe says: "Once cedar pollen gets into your system, its evil nature is revealed. Compared with it, ragweed is a wimp." In fact, it's so bad that an organzation even considers the Mountain Cedar a "plague of trees".

[Photo: BIO 406D course website, University of Texas at Austin]