The tree of discord is planted on the rue de Roquebilière -

F. Binacchi / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • East of Nice, residents plague the fruits of a ginkgo biloba which stink.

  • The “ova” of this female tree give off an odor of “gastric contents” as they break down.

A sign of peace for some, praised by others for its medicinal virtues, particularly venotonic, ginkgo biloba can also sometimes sow discord.

This is the case west of Nice where a specimen of this tree triggered a standoff between residents and the town hall.

The object of the discord: its "fruits" which, on falling to the ground, would give off an odor… of vomit, not very inviting for the inhabitants of the balconies, at 45 rue de Roquebillière.

Odor of gastric contents

“These are not fruits, but eggs, right away corrects Jean-Michel Meuriot, the expert botanist in the city of Nice.

This tree works differently.

It has been around for over 270 million years, 40 million years before the dinosaurs.

It is very resistant.

He escapes many diseases.

"

Except that the problem here is that it is a female ginkgo biloba that has been planted.

“We had already encountered this problem at Square Wilson [in Nice].

Males do not produce these famous eggs, ”continues the specialist.

And if the smell that emanates from them reminds one of regurgitation, it is because these “eggs” awaiting pollination are full of “fatty acids”.

"It is in particular butyric acid which, by degrading, can make think of rancid butter or, indeed, of gastric contents", specifies again Jean-Michel Meuriot.

A "firm opposition" to its transplantation

Local residents have since volunteered to collect these eggs before they rot.

The town hall plans to quickly transplant the tree to replace it with a grafted male.

The Saint Roch-Vauban neighborhood committee and @JulietteChesnel, elected ecologist, maintain their firm opposition to the transplantation and felling of a Gingko Biloba and ask that a real debate on the role and benefits of trees be organized at # Nice06! @Nice_Matin pic.twitter.com/nFnKVufv0d

- Nice Ecological 🌻 🌍 💚 (@NiceEcologique) September 24, 2020

An option that raised the "firm opposition" of the Saint-Roch neighborhood committee and Juliette Chesnel-Le Roux, elected EELV.

Given the size of the specimen and therefore its roots, its removal could not be done "without damage", according to them.

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