[NAFEX] Stinky ginkgo trees gotta go, says pol

Bruce Hansen brucedhansen at sbcglobal.net
Thu Dec 16 08:26:18 EST 2004


Lon:

Then what is the big deal? One can first smell butyric acid in a high school
chemistry lab. Bo biggie!

Bruce
  -----Original Message-----
  From: nafex-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Lon Rombough
  Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 11:48 PM
  To: North American Fruit Explorers
  Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Stinky ginkgo trees gotta go, says pol


  FWIW, the main ingredient in gingko fruit that makes the smell is butyric
acid, which is also the smell of rancid butter. Years ago, there was a
product for beekeepers called "Bee Go" that was used to drive bees out of
sections of the hive that were to be removed, and it was mainly butyric
acid. I had used that product before I ever encountered gingko fruit, and
when I first smelled it, I thought, "why does this smell so familiar?" until
it came to me where I'd smelled it before.
  -Lon Rombough
  Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at
http://www.bunchgrapes.com Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best
Talent in Writing" award for 2003.
  On Dec 15, 2004, at 6:51 PM, list at ginda.us wrote:

  It is funny. I ran into a load of gingko fruits this year for the first
time. It was a cold day, and they littered the ground under one tree in a
row of gingkos. (The others are male, I suppose). I didn't notice any odor,
but I'd heard that they smelled bad, so I picked one up and sniffed it.
Pheww! Smelled like vomit, and I dropped it right away.

  I hadn't noticed the smell out in the open, when most of the fruits were
frozen, but after I got in the car, the flesh on my shoes started to
defrost, and the odor followed me until I scraped the pulp off of my shoes.
I don't know if I'd cut down a mature tree, but I don't think I'll plant a
female gingko in my yard, either. And I'll be careful not to step on the
fruits, too.
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