SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio is having its lowest mountain cedar season ever.
The season usually runs about 45 to 60 days, from Dec. 1 to about Valentine’s Day. According to Shannon Syring, a certified pollen collector, the city had a later start this season.
Mountain cedar is known to bring on intense allergies this time of year. The peak season is typically around the week of Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
This year, the city’s highest number recorded was in the 4,700’s on Jan. 18.
Anything from 100 to 500 is considered low, counts above that are moderate and numbers ranging from the 10,000s to 20,000s are considered very high.
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“Late season, lower counts — maybe that’s just reflective of the health of the trees in general,” Syring said.
Jessica Jones, a local arborist with San Antonio Tree Surgeons, agrees with Syring’s sentiment.
“This is what these softwoods are going to do when they’re stressed,” Jones said. “They are going to lessen their pollen. They’re going to lessen their berry production.”
It is not just mountain cedar. From red oaks to cedar elms, this is a sign that the trees are stressed, Jones said.
Jones attributed the stress to heat the city had at the end of Summer 2024 and the extreme drought in the fall.
“We’ve had some major environmental impacts (that) are really negatively impacting our trees around here in every sense of the word,” Jones said.
While some people may have had an easy allergy season, Jones said it’s important to pay attention because each native tree and plant plays a role in maintaining the balance of the local ecosystem.
“They’re very indicative of, I think, how the environment is doing in general,” Jones said. “It’s bad. And each tree sort of has its own value, right?”
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