Pictures of pollen for my write up

AIRBORNE HORROR POLLEN!

Our beautiful climate in Georgia provides many benefits the rest of our country would like to have in their areas except one. Pollen season lasts about ten months with tremendous spring pollen counts and moderate fall pollen counts.

Pictures of various pollens follow this write up.

Pollen here is a greenish/yellowish mixture that coats everything. When the wind kicks up pollen blows around like snow and rolls itself into balls like tumbleweed.

Pollen is covered in sharp points and sticky surfaces which help it adhere to surfaces it touches. It will scratch paint if rubbed hard enough. Dry dusting your car’s surface is like rubbing sand grit into the paint. Wet your palms, have pollen attach to your palms from a flat glass surface then rub your palms together. Feel the grit from the pollen and this is what you do to your cars finish with a duster or a towel.

The following article is the best description I have found concerning pollen and the various effects it has on our cars finish. I do have TOGWT’s permission to use as long as his article is in its entire format.

Pollen[: Micro gametophytes - pollen grains]

"The sky is falling, the sky is falling" Chicken Little

The yellow fines to coarse powders you see in the air is made up of small sperm cells from blooming plants and are one of the most common allergy triggers. The pollen from trees are the main concern, vehicles get hit with pollen laced trees that include: oak, western red cedar, elm, birch, ash, hickory, polar, sycamore, maple, cypress and walnut (which also leaves an oily residue). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged.

Pollen must be strong to protect the male gametes on their journey. The outer wall of the pollen grain, called the exine, is composed of a very unusual substance called sporopollenin which is very tough. The inner layer is made of cellulose and is similar in construction to an ordinary plant cell wall; pollen will literally ‘wear’ away wax or polymer sealants.

Pollen isn't removed by air friction as you drive because it adheres to a surface with microscopic barbs that can attach to even a very slightly uneven surface, and adheres to a natural wax better than a synthetic polymer. As well as being allergic pollen is also very abrasive (due to its exine or barbs) and slightly acidic dust, especially when mixed with moisture and should therefore be removed from paint surfaces as soon as is practicable.

To remove heavy dust (do not use a California Duster as the pollen exine will cause surface marring) instead use Optimum No Rinse (ONR) a quick ‘wash’; formulated with surfactants to keep dirt in suspension, avoiding surface contact, it also provides surface lubrication, thereby avoiding surface marring. As soon as is practical, thoroughly rinse the vehicle with a hose and clean water to ensure all the pollen is removed.

No wax or polymer sealant can provide a permanent shield against: Micro gametophytes (pollen) Collinite 845 Insulator Wax is probably the most durable Carnauba wax product; but this may only provide enough of a barrier to enable it to be removed quickly before causing too much damage to the paint film surface

Information resource:
Wikipedia Dictionary - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollens
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition - http://info.britannica.co.uk

Pictures of pollen from Goggle Images