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Why do flowers make people sneeze?


Why do flowers make people sneeze?
Plants


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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

Why do flowers make people sneeze?
 
Some people – achoo! – sneeze a lot from plants like flowers, trees, and grasses. The reason this happens is because the plants contain pollen, a special substance that allows plants and flowers to be able to reproduce and make more plants and flowers. Pollen is a part of the plant, and it usually looks like a grainy or flaky powder that is yellow-like in color. 

People who sneeze from being around pollen have an allergy to it. (Often also called “Hay Fever.”) Pollen allergies generally occur seasonally, along with the seasonal cycles of the plants that produce the pollen! The symptoms of a pollen allergy can include itchy eyes, runny nose, and (of course) sneezing! – Gesundheit! 




Certain kinds of plants need to transfer pollen from one to another in order to reproduce. In some cases, the plants rely on bees and other insects who fly from flower to flower (collecting nectar and pollen) to do this for them. In other cases, the plants rely mostly on the wind to carry the pollen around; it’s mostly plants whose pollen is carried by wind that make us sneeze. In fact, pollen can travel this way for hundreds of miles – that means the pollen that makes you sneeze might have come from an entirely different city!





Pollen Patrol!

Go outside and take a look at some flowers in the garden. 

Look up close at the flowers and see if you can spot any pollen. The pollen is usually a green, yellow, or maybe even orange color, and it looks kind of like small flakes or dust or powder.

Where on the flower did you find the pollen? Was it on the stem or the leaves of the flower? Was it on the petals? Or was it in the center of the flower, like where the petals seem to come from?

Take a look at a few different kinds of flowers. Can you find pollen on all of them? What color is the pollen on one flower compared to the pollen on another flower? And did you find the pollen on the same part of each flower?