The ginkgo biloba on avenue Pasteur in Rouen (Seine-Maritime) have recently started to give off an odor reminiscent of vomit.
The phenomenon occurs every year in the fall.
It inconveniences residents of the prefecture district, passers-by, but also students from the nearby university.
The trees were planted in 2001 but their pestilential scent was not immediately felt, says 76actu.
It took the plants to reach their sexual maturity for the stench to develop and disturb some inhabitants.
Only female ginkgo biloba give off this odor.
Rouen had therefore ordered 41 male specimens.
The Dutch nurseryman who had been called upon by the municipality, however, delivered 19 female trees.
A butyric acid problem
After a few years, their reproductive cycle began.
The process includes the production of eggs, the breakdown of which gives off the scent of vomit.
Butyric acid is at the origin of the phenomenon, explained Jézabel Saumur, head of tree heritage at the town hall.
The specialist mentioned "a smell of Parmesan, rancid butter".
“The nuisance […] lasts for about a month,” she tempered.
Jézabel Saumur also explained that the city of Rouen had tried in vain to turn against the nurseryman.
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