Civil unrest in the Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces interrupted data capturing at two of our sites for this sampling period. Very low temperatures with frost and snow on high lying areas have also reduced the pollen and fungal spores in the air throughout South Africa.
Cape Town
Grass, tree, weed and mould counts were low. Tree pollen included gum (Myrtaceae), forest elder (Nuxia sp.), karee (Rhus sp. / Searsia sp.), cypress (Cupressaceae), the persimmon family (Ebenaceae) and the pine family (Cedrus sp. and Pinus sp.). Nettles (Urticaceae), ericas (Ericaceae), ice plants (Aizoaceae) and the rose family (Rosaceae) were the weeds detected.
Johannesburg
Grasses, trees, weeds and mould were low. Tree pollen included birch (Betula sp.), plane (Platanus sp.), gum (Myrtaceae), karee (Rhus sp. / Searsia sp.), oak (Quercus sp.), poplar (Populus sp.) and mulberry (Moraceae), with a peak in cypress pollen (Cupressaceae). Weed pollen detected were the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae), goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae), the daisy family (Asteraceae), spurges (Euphorbia sp.), mallows (Malvaceae), slangbos (Stoebe-type), ferns (Polypodiaceae) and mugwort (Artemisia).
Pretoria
The courier could not collect the pollen strip for analysis for this site. Findings for last week are repeated as follows: Grasses levels were low. No tree pollen was detected. Weeds were equally low and only slangbos (Stoebe-type), hop-bush (Dodonaea sp.) and the daisy family (Asteraceae) were detected. Moulds were low.
Bloemfontein
All pollen levels were very low. No grass was detected. Tree pollen identified was karee (Rhus / Searsia spp.) and in the category of weeds only knotweed (Polygonaceae) was observed. Moulds were very low.
Kimberley
Grass levels were very low and no tree pollen was detected in the atmosphere. Extremely low weed concentrations were observed as only goosefoot (Chenopodiaceae) was detected. Moulds were very low.
Durban
The courier could not collect the pollen strip for analysis for this site. Findings for last week are repeated as follows: Low grass levels were detected. Low tree levels included the sumac family (Anacardiaceae), karee (Searsia sp. / Rhus sp.), forest elder (Nuxia sp.) pine (Pinaceae), waxberry (Morella sp.) and Norfolk pines (Araucariaceae). Low weeds included nettles (Urticacea) and geranium (Geranaceae). Moulds were low.
Gqeberha
Grass, tree, weed and mould counts were low. Tree pollen included the cashew or sumac family (Anacardiaceae) and cypress (Cupressaceae). The weed pollen detected were the daisy family (Asteraceae), sedges (Cyperaceae) and ericas (Ericacea).
