If you’ve taken a country drive in central Texas, or if you’re familiar with the landscape of Fort Hood, you have noticed forested slopes of mesas and canyons. Most of those dark evergreen trees are cedars, also known as mountain cedar or Ashe juniper. About half of them are beginning to change color – and not because of a change in season. Soon, local allergy sufferers will wisely stock up on allergy antidotes and try to avoid the great outdoors.
From about December to February cedar trees take advantage of any wind to get pollinated. The males, laden with amber-hued limbs, release copious amounts of microscopic pollen, which from a distance looks like an off white puff of smoke. The females produce purple berries (actually cones) in which they receive pollen. Wind pollination is effective but very inefficient, as most of it gets wasted – leaving a yellow film on our cars, windows, and outdoor furniture. Inevitably some pollen grains also end up in our sinuses, resulting in the allergic reaction known as ‘cedar fever’ that some of us experience – watery eyes, congestion, sneezing. Though the pollen has no scent, all other parts of the tree exude an oily resin that gives off a pleasant cedar-like aroma, especially when cut. Of course, smelling the volatile oil will not induce an allergic reaction.

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