Fall Colors and Smells

I promised there would be a part two to my post earlier this week about the fall colors. There is a gorgeous tree we've found in Knoxville, known as the Ginkgo tree. It has gorgeous yellow leaves that bloom during the fall and make wonderful photos. When the leaves fall softly to the ground, they illuminate the path, and make it seem as if Dorothy will suddenly appear and starting following the yellow brick road.

The Ginkgo tree is dioecious, which means there are male and female trees. The female tress produce a fruit, which UT's Forest Resources Research and Education Center describes as having "a strong, malodorous odor." Malodorous is putting it mildly.  Because of this atrocious smell, males trees are normally planted, however there are several female trees on UT's campus and Pellissippi State Community College's campus, where David and I both have held our noses.

I didn't make the connection between the tree and the smell until this year. Every summer, I've noticed the fruits blooming and wondered what type of tree produces these round green balls. Every fall, I've noticed a strong smell near the parking garage on campus, but I always thought it was from a dumpster with rotting trash after a football game or some other event. I never realized it was from the trees growing near the garage.

Finally, I discovered these fruits that fall to the ground are causing the odor, especially when they are crushed by people's feet and cars driving on them. We were actually at a friend's house a month ago and when we got back in our car, which was parked under a tree with yellow leaves, we noticed the strong smell. It stayed with us in the car until we got home, and then we noticed our shoes carried some of the crushed fruit on the bottom. I started researching what type of tree and found the Ginkgo, which is seen and smelled in many states.

The fruits are gone now, and all that's left are the yellow leaves on the trees and the ground. I guess the strong odor is a small price to pay for the brilliant color they produce. (Thanks to David for snapping some of these photos during his visit to Pellissippi's campus yesterday. You can tell which ones are his since they look a lot better than mine! :))