what kind of pine trees are growing along 360? (Austin, Brenham: house, allergy)

[Austin97]

The ones that get decorated for christmas

[CarnivalGal]

They're cedar trees. The bane of most Austinites' existence.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by CarnivalGal

They're cedar trees. The bane of most Austinites' existence.

they dont look like the normal cedar trees, I havent looked closely though.

[Idlewile]

Yep. All ugly, awful cedar trees. We couldn't believe anyone was brave enough to decorate those bastards.

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/austi...over/355722511

https://www.penick.net/digging/?p=41800

[madrone2k]

The real pine trees closest to Austin (that I know of) are just east of Bastrop, where the soil is more conducive to their growth. Not just in the "Lost Pines" area there, but in other areas off US 290 and Tx 71 roughly between Austin and Brenham/Columbus. It's hard to know from just driving through, since virtually all are on private land.

Yeah, the OP was probably seeing "cedar" trees, which are really a species of juniper. Interestingly (to me, at least) I saw places in the mountains of southern Italy that looked very similar: limestone at the surface, covered with a lot of juniper.

[ScoPro]

At least up on 1431 just west of Parmer, the road widening project wiped out those nasty cedars that people decorated every Christmas.

[Danbo1957]

Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, especially hated in January when the pollen is everywhere.

[Longhorn Al]

Lifelong Austinite...never been bothered by the cedars or their pollen. I actually like the trees. They get a bad rap because so many people are allergic to them.

[ScoPro]

I'm not allergic, but they blanket our whole area with the yellow/green pollen. Gets in the house when we leave to windows open & all over the cars if left outside.
Not to mention a terrible fire hazard any time of the year.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Danbo1957

Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, especially hated in January when the pollen is everywhere.

Close but not quite correct, around here it is Juniperus ashei (Also known as Ashe juniper, post cedar, mountain cedar, or blueberry juniper) that pollenates in Dec-Jan and causes the worst allergy reactions. See the link to the annual allergy chart below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_ashei The pollen causes a severe allergic reaction for some people in the winter, and people who are allergic to Ashe juniper are also often allergic to the related Juniperus virginiana. Consequently, what begins as an allergy in the winter may extend into spring since the pollination of J. virginiana follows that of J. ashei. Ashe juniper is sometimes known in the area as "mountain cedar" (although neither it nor J. virginiana are cedars), and locals usually refer to the allergy as cedar fever.

There is a Red Berry Juniper that pollenates in Nov. & early Dec. that is also an allergy problem around Austin. See this allergy chart for Austin.

http://www.centraltexasallergy.com/i...ollenchart.gif