Cypress in Italy: landscape and pollen monitoring.

Abstract

In Italy the Cupressaceae pollen has been monitored by the Italian Aeroallergen Network (IAN) in collaboration with the Italian Research Council (CNR) since 1988. The measurements carried out over the last decade show a positive trend of the seasonal emission of the cypress pollen, whose flowering peak occurs in Italy from mid-February to mid-March. During the pollination period the cypress pollen represents 10% to 40% of the total pollen, showing a high variability of its annual production.