Messy trees to be replaced in Beijing

[Photo: from VCG]

Beijing plans to use new poplar trees it has developed to replace more than 500,000 of the current trees, which release catkins in massive amounts every spring.

With temperatures rising recently, masses of willow and poplar catkins-pollinating flowers-have begun blowing throughout the city, which can cause problems with traffic and complicate the lives of street cleaners and people with allergies.

Poplars and willows produce catkins as part of their reproduction process. Most of the current trees in the city are female, which leads to masses of catkins.

Kang Xiangyang, a professor specializing in tree breeding at Beijing Forestry University, led a research team to successfully develop the new type of poplar.

He said "They have passed legal approval at the national level and are ready to enter the market." "The new type of poplars are male, and can grow as fast as the female ones. This means they can help the city to achieve a greening effect soon."

The Beijing Municipal Landscape and Forestry Bureau said on Monday that it plans to treat 300,000 willow and poplar trees in a variety of ways this year, including chemical injection, trimming and thinning, to limit catkin production. The city has about 2 million of the trees. Beijing has stopped planting female poplars and willows.

According to the bureau, willows and poplars account for 5.4 percent of the city's trees. 

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI] 

(Source: China Daily)