Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Ragweed


Ragweed, originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer.

Many people are allergic to the pollen from Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia ). Since it blooms the same time as the showier Goldenrod, the Goldenrod often gets the blame. Goldenrod pollen is fairly heavy and sticky and does not go far. According to once source that I read, Ragweed pollen can travel up to 400 miles (640 km). It is also abundant as each plant can produce up to a billion pollen grains. [Information from John Eastman's The Book of Field and Roadside.]

1 comment:

Linda said...

Just when I think the Kansas wildflowers are finished with their show, there comes the encore--Goldenrod. Glad to hear they aren't the bad guy like I've always thought.