Historic Garden Discovers Its Ginkgo Isn't What It Thought

Visitors to Nova Scotia's Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens might want to watch where they step. Staff there had long believed their ginkgo tree, planted in the early 1980s, was male. That mattered because male ginkgos are typically the only ones sold in garden stores. The garden explains female trees produce seeds that look like orange cherries and release a nasty odor when they hit the ground and are stepped on or otherwise crushed. "Something like dog poo or rancid butter or even compared to vomit," is how garden manager Trish Fry described it to the CBC.

The surprise came this year, when a visitor pointed out the telltale seeds under the tree. Staff initially dismissed the idea—"No, no, it doesn't 'cause it's a male and we've never had fruit on the tree," Fry recalled—but a closer inspection by the garden's horticulturalist confirmed they had a female on their hands. Ginkgos can take decades to fully mature, which helps explain why the tree's female status went undetected for roughly 40 years. Despite the odor, the Annapolis Royal team is keeping the tree. Fry says the seeds don't fall during the busy summer months, and fall visitors will get a heads-up: They might want to wear nose plugs, Fry quips.