TLDR; Planting more fruit trees would ease everyone’s allergies and sexism even affects plants.
Who in the southeast (or anywhere in the US) hasn’t struggled with outdoor allergies? Springtime allergies are most commonly caused by pollen, tiny, male microgametophytes (which produce sperm cells) of seed plants. Contrastingly, female plants absorb pollen from the air and use it to fertilize their seeds, which grow into fruits. So any plant that produces pollen is male, and any plant that produces fruit is female #girlboss. (Some plants, like mulberries, are dioecious, which means they have both male and female reproductive organs.)
Allergies have been on the rise in recent decades, with many understandable causes, such as a longer pollen season (made possible by global warming), and the simple tendency for most urban plants to be male. Urban planners favor male plants over females because they do not drop fruits, and are seen as less “messy.” This botanical sexism has led to an overabundance of male plants and a scarcity of females, which means that every spring there is a massive release of pollen with virtually nowhere for it to go.
So consider planting a fruiting, female tree (if you’re able)! And check out the articles below for a more detailed description of this problem.
Sources
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/botanical-sexism-cultivates-home-grown-allergies/
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/seasonal-allergies-blame-male-trees