Thanks to some timely weather patterns, cedar pollen has showed up in the Texas Hill Country, in full force. If you have cedar fever, that could spell disaster for your holiday spirit. Many throughout Texas suffer from December through February with the cold-like symptoms that result from sensitivity to pollen.
Jim Rooni, Texas A&M Forest Service’s Head of Operations, told communityimpact.com, “Many new Texans are finding Christmas on their backs. It’s the Ashe juniper, or juniperus ashei, and it’s debilitating.” First off, what they’re experiencing is not as a result of a cedar tree – a general misconception. The plant in question is, in fact, an evergreen, but it is a drought-tolerant juniper variety (as noted above,) which has spread throughout the Hill Country. They’re not an invasive species but are, in fact, native to Texas. There are roughly 10 million acres of them in the Lone Star State, according to Rooni. As a result, such things as pollen counts are reported on local stations by meteorologists as the numbers rise.
