What are these airborne seeds?

[nectarine]

For the last fortnight the air has been full of white fluffy seeds, a bit like broken-up dandelion clocks but I know it's not them. Sorry don't have a photo, but crops around here are maize and sunflowers, both not out, and just this year, for the first time, rapeseed. Coincidentally my husband - who suffered with hayfever in the UK - never had it since we came to France until this year ... perhaps the rapeseed. But is anyone else down southwest getting these clouds of floating seeds?

[goose]

We have a black poplar that sends out hundreds of fluffy cotton like seeds. In fact our garden is covered in them at the moment. Do you have any trees around you, perhaps one of these?

[Suandpete]

Our willow trees are doing the same thing at the moment.

[idun]

In some of the cities where I used to live in France, it would look as if it has 'snowed' there was so much of this stuff.

Can you not see which tree it is coming from.

[nectarine]

I live close to woods and there are all sorts of trees including willows and I think some poplars. But I can't see which trees it is coming from ... it's like a cloud of fluffy seeds comes over the hill, on the wind, and builds up in corners. I really cannot work out from where it is coming and it is all over here but because we are in the country it is more noticeable although I have seen some drifting on the wind in our local town. Very odd, I shall try and get a photo. But willow, possibly, but I wouldn't think we had that many willows. Poplar, maybe, but same response.

[Pads]

My Goat willow in Cornwall is doing the same thing..... making a right mess of my lawn... never seen it do that before .... must of been all the sun we have had !!

[Charly]

[quote user="nectarine"]For the last fortnight the air has been full of white fluffy seeds, a bit like broken-up dandelion clocks but I know it's not them. Sorry don't have a photo, but crops around here are maize and sunflowers, both not out, and just this year, for the first time, rapeseed. Coincidentally my husband - who suffered with hayfever in the UK - never had it since we came to France until this year ... perhaps the rapeseed. But is anyone else down southwest getting these clouds of floating seeds?[/quote]

Oil seed rape fields can give you very bad hayfever. The fluffy white cotton stuff which attaches itself to everything in the garden can be from willows, especially cottonwoods, poplars, or, as is the case in my garden, birch trees. Have seen it before but never drifting like this, so assume that the very early hot weather has encouraged all of the catkins to burst open and disperse at once.

[Thebiga]

All the ones in our garden that have been going for about 3 weeks now have all been fron the fields of dandelions that surround us and it has been the first year it has been this bad