Many trees are hermaphrodites, bearing flowers with both male and female reproductive parts. However, some species have separate trees for each gender. Come pollen season, it's the male trees that make eyes water and noses sneeze — they're the ones that produce and spread pollen.
Unfortunately for allergy sufferers, urban planting policies have long favored male trees to avoid dealing with seed pods and fruit produced by female trees. In an entirely on-brand effort to address this issue, Claritin has established The DiversiTree Project. The initiative aims to reduce pollen production by promoting the planting of female trees, which don't produce pollen and actually absorb it.
The project kicked off with planting events in New Orleans, LA and Richmond, VA. Those two cities have been identified as particularly challenging for people with pollen allergies, so female trees were planted in public parks and along streets. DiversiTree plans to roll out to cities across the US, boosting botanical balance and lowering pollen levels for all.
