North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Bruce Hansen" <brucedhansen@sbcglobal.net>]

God forbid someone raises chestnuts. In bloom, they do not smell too good. But they are the potato of nuts and available for so many dishes. Me thinks the Yuppie stuff has gained too many adherents. If we can suffer BO and bad breath, me thinks a gingko or two should be able to pass the human muster.

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of list@ginda.us
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 9:51 PM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Stinky ginkgo trees gotta go, says pol

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.

Cow pastures don't bother me. I agree with Lon that fresh feces from healthy animals can be pungent, but are rarely really objectionable. When I had babies I could always follow the progression of a stomach bug through the family by the smell of the diapers. :)

Ginda


On Dec 15, 2004, at 1:32 PM, Regina Kreger wrote:

You know, it's funny about those gingko trees, and individual sensitivities.....  Having lived in and around Washington, D.C., my whole life, I have never even noticed the smell of the gingko fruits - not even when they're lying around rotting on the ground under the trees, so it's not just that I've been lucky enough not to come into proximity of them.....  I not only don't think they smell unpleasant, I've never even noticed that they smell at all. There you have it, genetics I guess. I've heard about the smell before, just never bothered by it.

As for cow pastures, I'm with those of you who love the smell of them, but find recently-occupied bathrooms yucky.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Brungardt, Sam"
To: "North American Fruit Explorers"
Subject: [NAFEX] Stinky ginkgo trees gotta go, says pol
Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 08:13:25 -0600


Stinky ginkgo trees gotta go, says pol
BY BILL FARRELL
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Female ginkgo trees have been banned in Beijing, removed from the streets of Washington, D.C., and Lexington, Ky., and from the campus of the University of Iowa.

Now one Brooklyn legislator also wants them out of New York City.
Known for their shallow roots and beautifully shaped leaves, ginkgos are among the most popular and attractive urban trees. Provided they are not the fruit-producing female ginkgo trees.

"The fruit not only smells, it has the same substances found in poison oak and poison sumac," explained Assemblyman William Colton (D-Gravesend). "There are 13 other jurisdictions in the United States that have cut these trees down."

"We should be cutting them down as well," he added.
As a rule, the city does not plant ginkgo trees, and most nurseries kill the female plants before they can be sold.
And, according to Parks Department Forestry and Horticulture Director Fiona Watt, it can take more than a decade for the trees to bear fruit.

Unfortunately for the residents along W. Fifth St. in Gravesend, the city planted three female trees side-by-side there some 25 years ago.

Each fall, 85 year-old Mary Ciccolella, who has one of the trees in front of her house, has to cope with the smelly, oily fruit.

"From September to Thanksgiving. It's horrible," said Ciccolella. "I love trees but we can't take it anymore."
Colton, who has written numerous letters to parks officials requesting the trees be taken down, said he continues to receive the same response. "The Parks Department policy is they will not remove a heathy tree."

A department spokesman confirmed that policy again yesterday.
That will not stop Colton.
"I'm going to go the city's Law Department and present evidence of the health concerns," said Colton.
"This is no longer just a quality-of-life issue over the smell. This is an issue concerning people's health," he said.
"No one is saying we don't want trees. Plant other trees, of course," said Colton.
"It's a matter of putting the welfare of residents above that of a tree," he added .

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