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THIS SPRING, NEW Yorkers will have their noses assaulted by an unpleasant odour coming from the army of white-blossom covered trees that line many of the city’s streets.
These flowers, though lovely in appearance, smell like a mixture of rotting fish and semen, according to a variety of web reports, and personal accounts from residents.
The raunchy-smelling flowers come from the Bradford Pear tree. Their scientific name is Pyrus calleryana.
The trees were planted all throughout New York in the 1960s because they are hard to kill — they grow fast and can thrive in tough conditions. People also think they are pretty. In the eastern United States, they are considered an invasive species because of their prevalence.
The downside, we have learned, is that these hardy “street trees” really stink.
Urban Dictionary has labelled Bradford Pears the “semen tree,” with an equally inappropriate, though colourful, description of their smell, which you can read over there.
Everything we smell — from bananas to pine needles — comes from molecules, usually made of volatile chemicals, meaning chemicals that evaporate easily. The molecules evaporate from the food or flower and travel into your nose, where they bind with receptors in our nose.
The compounds that make the Bradford Pear tree’s flowers smell are likely due to a type of chemical called amines, Dr Eloy Rodriguez, a professor of plant biology at Cornell University, told Business Insider.
We come in contact with the smell of amines every day in the form of body odours, like under the arm pits.
Pretty, but smelly. (Pic: Janice Waltzer/Flickr)
The fishy odour produced by the Bradford Pear is likely a combination of two amines called trimethylamine and dimethylamine, according to Richard Banick, a botanical manager at Bell Flavors and Fragrances. Although perfumers know what chemicals produce the fishy smell (trimethylamine is often used an indicator of how fresh a fish is) they can’t be certain what causes the odour of the Bradford Pear, said Banick.
Later, the trees produce little green-yellow fruits that you cannot eat.
So there you have it. The reason New York City smells like one big orgy starting in April is due to little white flowers that produce a scent, which is apparently inviting to other insects.
- Dina Spector
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Trees that smell like Twink, scary.
Someone who knows what sex with Twink smells like… Scarier!
I’d ride her but I’d cancel the voicemail service on my phone!
Not sure how bad sex smells. Is it any different to good sex?
The smell of rotting fish would indicate someone has a nasty infection.
Is that from experience karla? :)
Bad sex smells like rotten fish and semen?!!
Who found that out!!
Anybody who lived around Benburb Street
John West
I chocked on my tea when I read the headline…
TCD has one, it’s near The Pav. It’s known as “The Cum Tree”. Delightful.
:-/
Sac s hotel (Jurassic park) kinda smelt like that.
as they used to say’ a bad ride is always better than a good wank!’
Rotting fish and semen,yes please,damm i should have guessed,this is the reason for the low crime rate in NYC every spring
There is nothing wrong with the smell of sex
… New York city has trees that smell like bad sex < The trees close to Dáil Éireann smell the same.
THAT smell isn’t off the trees man ;)
Dympna, I know ;) You have to go inside the building to find the source of the smell.
could clean up selling it to the posers who like to brag about all the conquests they had over the weekend…in reality in front of the laptop !
Dimethylamine and trymethylamine. Are these related to the methylamine seen in breaking bad?
Lmao trees that smell like decaying fish.
…..”Sharon, Does that smell like come to you ?”
Ahh the oldies are the best.
We have similar cum smelling trees here
If it smells of fish , make it a dish, if it smells of cologne , leave it alone ;)
I thought semen smells good. Lol :-)
I wouldn’t say the “ladies of the night” get much business around there..
have your say