Something NOT to be Sniffed At.

Fascinating David, and how different they all are. I had no idea pollen was like this, so thanks for the blog! :-)

like snowflakes you can't see the wonderful patterns~don't we miss such a lot!

Wow! That is just awesome!! Thanks! Makes you appreciate plants now, doesn't it?

You can see how they stick to bees with all those tiny spikes:)

Very Interesting blog David. I didn't know what they looked like but I certainly know what they feel like, in my nose and eyes ( As do my two sons). I'm glad that feeling hasn't been magnified by thousands!!!

wow these are amaxing, one looks a bit like a melon (canteloupe i think)

thanks its fab

x x x

Fascinating to see, David. Thanks for that.

I never much thought b4 about pollen. just thought that it was all just "dust". But, it makes sense that different plants have differently-shaped pollen cells, in order to re-produce.Have since learned that the smallest pollen grains are those of Forget-me-not (Myosotis).

My pics were made possible by large-scale, backlit slides, and I love them.

Mookins! I was also thinking of melons, when I saw this one,lol!

Paul ! I really hope you and the boys are not suffering too much. I've had a bad dose all week since returning from our trip. Was daft enough to show my kids the clouds of dust by shaking or "pinging" a tree or plant, in the recent warm weather spell (b4 going to the exhibition). But have almost got rid of my hayfever now, with the antihistamine pills. :-)

Yes, taking the pills was definitely a better idea than shaking the plants/trees.

No wonder it makes you sneeze - just looking at that Dandelion pollen makes my eyes water!
Luckily I don't suffer from hayfever and the thought of those pollen 'aliens' up my snout is not very inviting.

You are so lucky, Greenfingers! I can go for a few years without symptoms, so, when we get a warmer spell than usual, I forget.

I'm so glad that this is a gardening site, some of the other micro-organisms on display, which can invade our skin and bodies, had me feeling really itchy - YUK!

Now, though, I want to find out what the pollen of the cacao bean tree (Theobroma cacao) looks like! Would it put me off chocolate for life? Must try to find out, for educational purposes. :-)

NOTHING can put us hard-edged chocoholics off.....even the most prickly, ugly, green/brown/orange micro aliens. I sniffed a mars bar today, and luckily found out I was not allergic to choccy, so ate the whole thing just to be sure....yum.

I had the EpiPen (adrenaline/epinephrine) on standby!

So glad you sniffed, and were able to eat, too! :-)

Thanks for those amazing pics of pollen grains, David. I've seen some kinds of them before, it's amazing there are so many kinds. All those fantastic shapes! The microscopic world contains the most fantastic array of shapes & colours!

Aren't they just gr8, Balcony? I can't get over the shapes and colours. Has got me wondering,and searching, for more! :-) No luck to date!

What ??? No ragweed pollen? every year at the end of summer and through to the first killing frosts of November, I suffer with "hay fever"...(aka ragweed pollen allergy) Most people who have the seasonal allergy attribute it to other things which are more visible...like goldenrod...when the real culprit is just about everywhere on every piece of soil available...on poor salty soil on the boulevards it struggles to grow to 6 inches tall...but it still produces pollen and seed! if it should be so lucky as to find a vacant niche in a patch of garden soil..it will quickly grow to 3 feet tall with lush lacy leaves that some find quite attractive...but when it pollenates! AAAH! CHOOOOO! itchy stinging watery eyes...swollen itchy pallete...and sequential sneezing! Arghhhh! Do you have ragweed over there? or does it not afflict your "pleasant pastures"?
The dandelion (dent de leon) pollen looks ferocious!
haven't been on here much this summer...but I'm presently enjoying catching up on my fav members activities! You have had a very busy summer, it would seem.

I don't know if we have it here in the UK but a Wikipedia article on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragweed says it has been introduced into Europe & that Hungary suffers worst with this plant.

I can't seem to find info of this plant in the UK. One site states that it is not very common over here.

Have read something along those lines, too, Balcony. Perhaps we should ask Chrispook (who lives in hungary) about this one?

Hope you can have a more relaxing Autumn/Winter, Lori :-)

How civilised...no mosquitoes and no ragweed...sigh.

Well, Lori, we do have the tiny, but ferocious, "midgies" here to contend with in summer. :-(

Very interesting indeed !