Wander along one of Nanjing’s avenues and you will see some of the finest Oriental Plane trees anywhere; their cooling and shading effect during the city’s legendary summers being the main reason for their presence.
While they blanket the streets from the sun as a godsend to city dwellers in the provision of a cool oasis from the heat, spring, however, is not their finest month. At this time, these deceptively beautiful grandparents of Nanjing begin to shed and shed and shed. Unfortunately, for a large group of people who suffer from allergies, this is also the time our beloved Plane trees can potentially cause great harm.
Hailing from the Balkans, the Plane tree has been revered throughout history as one of the most versatile of plants. In ancient Greece, it was called the Tree of Hippocrates, which the “Father of Medicine” reportedly taught under at Kos. In Kashmir, Plane trees were planted alongside holy sites and were given names taken from the goddess Bhavani. The Plane has also been used to make medicines and dyes while its timber has been used for furniture. In the ancient world, Plane trees were a great resource, but in our densely populated modern world, they can do more harm than good.
According to the “Tree Pollen Allergens – an update from a molecular perspective” journal article, “53 tree pollen allergens have been identified and acknowledged by the WHO… [and] it is estimated that pollen allergies affect approximately 40 percent of allergic individuals; [in addition] conservative estimates suggest that approximately half a billion people worldwide suffer from allergic rhinitis… In general, pollen allergens are considered a major risk factor for both seasonal allergic rhinitis and asthma”. It is for precisely this reason that the Nanjing government issued Monday its first warning against Platanus Orientalis Catkins. These will be issued three times a day and last until the end of June.
Further research published in another journal article “A Review of the Effects of Major Atmospheric Pollutants on Pollen Grains, Pollen Content, and Allergenicity” concluded that, “if pollen is one of the main agents in the reproduction system for thousands of plant species, it is at the same time a real contributor of the total bioaerosol mass. Its effects on allergic people are more likely to be associated with the presence of deep atmospheric pollen charge”.
