Officials at pains to tackle catkin menace
Print Edition
CATKIN season is here.
Catkins — a downy, hanging flowering spike of trees such as plane and willow, pollinated by the wind — will linger until late May, Shanghai Greenery Management Station said.
Fuxing Rd M., Shaanxi Rd S., Hengshan Road, Ruijin No.2 Road, Huaihai Rd M., Guangyue Road and Caoyang area are among the most affected areas, according to the station.
“Greenery authorities have been injecting a liquid agent into trees and trimming to curb catkin production,” said the station’s Zhang Guobing.
Guangyue Road has more than 300 willow trees, and Hongkou District’s greenery management authorities have been experimenting with injecting a liquid agent into them to keep catkins under control. “In the past, we received residents’ complaints of coughing, sneezing, tears and itching of skin because they were allergic to catkins,” said Li Zhihua, an official with the district greenery management affairs center. “Now, complaints have dropped significantly due to control measures.”
Sixian Park and Songjiang Central Park have received similar catkin treatment from Songjiang District’s greenery authorities.
The district’s greenery authorities have been keeping injecting on 300-plus willow trees since 2014.
“Our observation found the injection had no negative impact on the health and growth of willows and the best time of injection is May,” Shen Wenbin, a district greenery official, said.
Plane trees account for about 30 percent of Shanghai’s 1 million or so street trees.
“Catkin is so disturbing in spring because I am sensitive to pollen and catkins and I have to wear a mask every time I go to work to avoid skin itching and sneezing,” said Iris Li, a travel agency staff worker who lives on Jianguo Rd W. where plane trees are planted. But plane trees offset the catkin problem by offering shade from sunshine and by purifying the air quality, said Zhang.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
