What Are Those Cotton Like Things Flying All Over Massachusetts?

At a little league game last week the sky was full of little white fluffy cotton balls. Cool to some, probably annoying to others lol. We'll get back to that in a minute.

I was on a run about two months ago when I saw this yellow-green explosion of dust that came from atop a pine tree.

The wind wasn't whipping or anything, it just sort of happened. It was kind of wild and I don't ever remember seeing anything like that. OK, I probably have but I just don't remember. 😂

The illustration above shows crews working on this particular pine tree, but you should get the idea of what I'm talking about now!

Also over the last couple of months, I have observed these cotton-like little floaties EVERYWHERE and kind of often. They seem to collect and gather on either side of my driveway as well.

Now, I recently had my driveway resurfaced and they planted grass seed along the edges along with hay or straw to keep the seed down, and I have noticed that these "cotton balls" seem to get hung up in the straw. (just to clarify).

So, What The Heck Are Those Fluffy Cotton Things, Anyway?

I have heard anything from, "Oh, that's pollen." Wrong.

"Oh, that stuff comes from trees". Yes.

It's not pollen but it does come from poplar trees!

They are actually poplar seed pods. There are roughly 30 different kinds of trees that are considered poplar trees. And it’s the female trees that release these seeds to be carried by the wind. -wwlp.com

Cottonwood trees are to blame as well.

Is it just me, or have you seen way more of these things this year?

I hope you found this post informative.