By Burt Glover

Now that Spring is in the air, you might just spot me driving around Aiken, belting out an old Beatles song. “We all live in a yellow submarine!” I’ll be the one with the yellow clothes in the yellow car, driving on the yellow road past the yellow houses with their yellow yards. Yes, it’s pine tree mating season, and pine pollen is everywhere.

Loblolly pines are the dominant species in our area. In fact, they are the second most numerous tree in the whole country (first is red maple). The name “loblolly,” in some kind of Southern dialect, translates to “mud hole.” Go figure.

We also host a variety of other pines, such as slash and long-leaf pines. Most people, it seems, would not care to know their characteristics, or how to count the needles in each sheath to determine the species. Pine trees only come into focus when the pollen comes raining down.

I am lucky not to be overly affected by it. Who isn’t, at least, slightly red-eyed and sniffly-nosed after trudging through the yellow dust storm? Pine pollen allergies are somewhat rare. The allergies that do flare up are most likely due to the comparatively invisible pollens of other trees wafting in the air such as oak, pecan and hickory, which come a little later in the season. According to the pollen-dot-com allergy report, the top allergens in Aiken, SC right now are elm, juniper and alder.

It’s the large size of pine pollen grains that makes them unlikely to be much of a problem, say the allergy specialists. When examined under the microscope, those pollen grains do look otherworldly. Each has a hard, waxy coat and wings on each side to keep it airborne for very long distances.

The best advice, they say, is to live with it. Pine pollen season lasts for only a few weeks. If you do manage to survive pine pollen season and find, at any time of the year, that you really do miss the yellow stuff, there are many outlets online that will be glad to sell it to you. One site I consulted will sell you 1.7 ounces (around 1/4 cup) for only $34.

What to do with it?

Eat it! Pine pollen is the new miracle health food. It contains numerous nutrients– vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, C, D, E, beta carotene, proteins, carbs, 18 amino acids, minerals and fiber. They claim it will fortify your immune system, restore energy/reduce fatigue, reduce arthritis symptoms and lessen signs of aging. The taste is mild, pleasant, they say; a bit cheesy or yeasty. Add it to baked goods or casseroles.  Bon Appétit!

As I rub a hole with my sleeve in the pollen on the side window of my car so I can see out, I can’t help but wonder. With upwards of 2-½ lbs. of pollen being released by each pine tree in a season, is this a yellow curse? Or could it be a gold mine?

Pollen-producing, male pine catkins

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Contributor Burt Glover became an accidental naturalist during his earliest childhood days exploring the dirt roads, backyards, polo field and barns of the Magnolia-Knox-Mead neighborhood of 1950s Aiken. Birds are his first love, and he can identify an impressive range by song alone. He asserts that he is an observer, not an expert, on the topics of his writings, which range from birds, box turtles, frogs and foraging, to wasps, weeds, weather and beyond.