Listen up, allergy sufferers! Those lovely, sprawling, shade-producing silver maples found in much of Ontario cottage country may be to blame for your sniffles.
Turns out, it’s a guy thing: While female trees and plants collect pollen, males produce it. In fact, according to the Ogren Plant Allergy Scale, which measures plants’ allergy potential on a scale of one to 10, silver maples—specifically, the males—are ranked the highest (most allergenic), beating out buttercups, marigolds, poinsettas, and a number of other allergy-inducing plants.