Grasses

Latin name:

Poaceae

Description:

Numerous species of grasses are growing all over the continent. They form meadows, pastures, and are sum and substance of lawns. The ones with the highest allergenic potency are those which grow tall in pastures, e.g. timothy (Phleum), orchard grass (Dactylis), oat grass (Arrhenaterum), or ryegrass (Lolium). Cultivated rye (Secale cereale) has perhaps the highest allergenic potency of all grasses. Not every plant which looks like a grass is dangerous for allergenic people: Sedges (Carex and other genera) look very alike grasses, but they belong to different plant families. They grow mainly on moist places and are not allergenic.

Start of the season:

The start of the flowering period opens in March/April in the South of Europe, in May in central Europe, and moves toward the northern areas of the continent depending on the latitude during June and July. In general, the pollination period lasts about two months or even longer.

Allergenicity:

The grasses show high allergenicity.

Crossreactions:

Nearly all grass species are very closely related and cross react frequently. Some grasses of minor importance are for example reed (Phragmites), oats (Avena), or bermuda grass (Cynodon). Cross reactions with food are not frequent, although such are known to beans, soy, peanuts and other leguminoses.