Tree time: the Ginkgo

Yesterday, we went to the Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. The geology and paleontology exhibits were wonderful, and well worth the trip. Down the walk from the Morrill building was a familiar, beautiful tree: a ginkgo!

I love the fan-shaped leaves. And it was a female tree. You don't often see the female trees, because some people object to the strong smell of the seeds after they drop. In fact, my old forestry textbook (Textbook of Dendrology, by Harlow, Harrar, and White) refers to the fleshy seed coating as being "exceedingly malodorous." It then describes the smell as being like rancid butter, and recommends only planting male trees.  But I love the big clusters of seeds that look a little like the wild plums I saw at Fontenelle last week, and I guess I inherited my grandfather's sense of smell. It's legendary in our family that Limburger cheese didn't bother him, and the ripe, fallen seeds of this tree do not bother me.

Many trees had signs to identify them, so I guess this was part of an on-campus arboretum.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.