Mulberry

apples, peaches, cherries, apricots, strawberries, figs, and mulberry fruit

Few trees have shaped Phoenix’s allergy landscape quite like the mulberry. Planted widely across the Valley decades ago as a popular shade tree, it thrived in the desert heat and quickly became one of the most prolific pollen producers in the region. Today, even with city ordinances restricting new plantings, enough mature trees remain throughout established neighborhoods to make mulberry a dominant spring allergen year after year.

Pollen season runs from mid-February through early May, with March being the month most sufferers dread. The season itself is relatively brief, but mulberry compensates with sheer volume, releasing dense clouds of pollen on warm, dry, windy mornings, which is exactly the kind of weather Phoenix sees most in early spring.

What makes mulberry particularly tricky is how easily it hides within the broader spring surge. Olive, ash, and elm pollinate during the same window, and because the symptoms are identical, many people spend years treating generic spring allergies without ever knowing mulberry is a primary driver.

Cross-reactivity adds another layer of complexity. Some mulberry-sensitive individuals notice reactions when eating raw stone fruits, apples, or figs, or when taking dietary supplements that contain mulberry extract. This is oral allergy syndrome at work, triggered by shared proteins between mulberry pollen and certain foods.

If your spring symptoms feel harder to control than they should be, mulberry could be a bigger part of the picture than you realize. The team at Carefree Allergy can identify your specific triggers through targeted testing and build a treatment plan tailored to you. Options range from medication management to long-term immunotherapy to reduce your sensitivity to mulberry and the other tree pollens that arrive alongside it each spring.