At this time of year, the fruit from a female gingko tree
creates a real stink. But those who love trees say just give
them a few weeks. Every fall, around the first frost, these
wrinkly gingkoes start to drop from high above, taking New York
City smells to a new low. The gooey seed stinks. The Asian tree
is thought to have survived the atomic blast in Hiroshima
roughly 10 percent of all trees in Manhattan are gingkoes.
Gingko trees go back about 2 million years .and are related to
fossils that date back more than 270 million years. So they are
probably not going anywhere anytime soon. The Central Park
Conservancy issued a statement about the trees. "While the
Conservancy itself has never planted female Ginkgo trees, quite
a few can be found throughout Central Park," said Neil
Calvanese, vice president of operations. "Their ripe fruit emits
a pretty offensive smell for a couple weeks each year, but when
their leaves turn Ginkgos are an extraordinarily beautiful tree.
Conservancy staff and volunteers do their