Video shows tree catkins, not 'worm rain' in China

This article is more than one year old.
Published on April 5, 2023 at 05:43
3 min read
By Rachel YAN, AFP Hong Kong

A video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in social media posts that falsely claim it shows "worm rain" in China. The video -- which was filmed in China's northeast Liaoning province -- in fact shows catkins from poplar trees that are "distinctively rich" in that part of the country.

"Magical phenomenon of worm rain, China sees worm rain," reads the caption in traditional Chinese characters to a YouTube clip published on March 11, 2023.

The video shows a line of parked vehicles covered by worm-shaped objects on a street.

Screenshot of the misleading YouTube video, taken on April 3, 2023

The same video alongside a similar claim in various languages was also shared on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and the US social media site Gettr.

However, the video shows tree catkins, not "worm rain".

Catkins from poplar trees

A closer look at the license plates seen on vehicles in the video found they are from the city of Shenyang in China's northeast Liaoning province.

Keyword searches on Baidu using shop signs seen in the clip found the video was filmed on Shenyang's Wenhua Road.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the Baidu Maps street imagery (right):

Screenshot comparison of the misleading videos (left) and the Baidu Maps street imagery (right).

A staff member surnamed Zhang who works at a restaurant close to the location confirmed there are poplar trees on Wenhua Road that seasonally shed their catkins.

"I see poplar flowers falling on the street every year in Shenyang," Zhang told AFP on March 28.

Below are photos taken by Zhang that show catkins outside the restaurant on Wenhua Road:

Photos of the poplar trees and their catkins taken by Zhang on March 28, 2023. ( Supplied)

Poplar trees are part of the willow family, native to the northern hemisphere. Their flowers bloom in drooping catkins -- cylindrical flower clusters -- before the leaves emerge, to facilitate wind pollination.

China has a "distinctively rich" variety of trees in the poplar family, particularly in the country's northern provinces, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

The Bureau of Public Order of China's public security ministry also said on March 12 that the video shared in the false posts shows poplar flowers.

Shi Jun, a member of the Scientific Communication Committee at the Chinese Botanical Society, published several photos of similar catkins on March 12 alongside a hashtag about the same video.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the photos published by Shi (right):

A screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the photos published by Shi (right).

Lewis J. Feldman, professor of plant biology at the University of California, Berkeley, said his "best guess" was that the video in the false posts shows tree catkins.

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