# I pit semen trees and all involved parties. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 8, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607 "2004-11-08T06:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/41 "2004-11-09T13:38:39Z")
I have never encountered this. I suppose I ought to be grateful. However, there was a period of about 6 weeks this spring/summer, when there was a definite cat pee odor in the foliage around here. That’s no treat, either, lemme tell you. At the time, one of my cats was going through a big ‘pee outside the litterbox’ phase, so my house smelled like cat pee. Then I would go outside and smell it, too. I really thought I was having olafactory hallucinations until a few other people commented on the cat pee trees. Oh, nature. How capricious she is! ---
**Author:** ![NotMrKnowItAll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NotMrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotMrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/42 "2004-11-09T13:47:24Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > I have never encountered this. I suppose I ought to be grateful. However, there was a period of about 6 weeks this spring/summer, when there was a definite cat pee odor in the foliage around here. > That’s no treat, either, lemme tell you. At the time, one of my cats was going through a big ‘pee outside the litterbox’ phase, so my house smelled like cat pee. Then I would go outside and smell it, too. I really thought I was having olafactory hallucinations until a few other people commented on the cat pee trees. > > Oh, nature. How capricious she is! Do you live in an area that has a problem with Crystal Meth labs? Apparently, the cooking process can create a strong cat urine smell. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/43 "2004-11-09T13:51:34Z")
> [@NotMrKnowItAll](#): > > Do you live in an area that has a problem with Crystal Meth labs? Apparently, the cooking process can create a strong cat urine smell. Well, now I don’t know. I don’t think so, but that’s not really the type of statistic I looked into before purchasing the house. Perhaps my cat isn’t peeing on the floor after all. Perhaps she is cooking up crystal meth. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/44 "2004-11-09T14:10:08Z")
Hmmm, the stuff you learn on this board. That smell was a regular autumn feature on Colgate Avenue in my Pennsylvania hometown; given the climate, it would appear Chinese Chestnut was the culprit. Actually, though, after having read the whole thread, the real unanswered question is, “What makes sperm smell like sperm?” ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/45 "2004-11-09T14:14:09Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Ya know… now I can’t help but wonder what the selection pressure was which created the ‘sperm tree’ branch of the ol’ evolutionary tree. > > Some very… interesting… birds? There was, no kidding, a band called ‘The Sperm Birds’. They ripped off Cerebus the Aardvark for an album cover. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/46 "2004-11-09T15:22:51Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > I have never encountered this. I suppose I ought to be grateful. However, there was a period of about 6 weeks this spring/summer, when there was a definite cat pee odor in the foliage around here. > That’s no treat, either, lemme tell you. At the time, one of my cats was going through a big ‘pee outside the litterbox’ phase, so my house smelled like cat pee. Then I would go outside and smell it, too. I really thought I was having olafactory hallucinations until a few other people commented on the cat pee trees. > > Oh, nature. How capricious she is! I find sometimes that some Eucalyptus ( specifically, I’m thinking Blue Gum here ) can give off a “stale cat-pee” odor. Other times they smell great. Never have been systematic enough to figure out if it is a seasonal thing. And it might just be peculiar to myself. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/47 "2004-11-09T17:01:51Z")
> [@antechinus](#): > > Can you please put us out of our misery and have the tree identified. Cecils investigation has proved fruitless. > > Perhaps take a photo and post it so a botanist can identify it. If you send _me_ a photo I can have it identified for you. > > Please. This is one of the **great mysteries**. > > Ahhh, smell the cuntree air. I’ll snap a photo if my memory and my senses can get along and be friends with one another, just for one day. Cecil’s search actually upturned a great number of possible culprits, I just have nofrigginclue which one is “mine” (bad word. I don’t want any responsibility for this shit). > [@](#): > > “What makes sperm smell like sperm?” I don’t know, but after typing “sperm smell” into Google I DO know that sperm “smell” their way to eggs. Intermestin. Oh, wait. here it is. Seems something called “spermine” causes the odor. What it origins and purposes are, however, I’m still clueless. > [@](#): > > Do you live in an area that has a problem with Crystal Meth labs? Apparently, the cooking process can create a strong cat urine smell. Yeesh, tell me about it. I live in an area with a. a ton of Crystal Meth labs and b. a ton of stray cats. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/48 "2004-11-09T17:34:09Z")
> [@Sir Dirx](#): > > Well, as bad as these trees sound (I’ve never encountered any), they can’t possibly be worse than ginko trees. In the fall, they drop thousands of squishy berries that smell exactly like dog crap. Nonsense, the ginkgo fruits smell like concentrated Eau de Armpit. They are also a favored edible in parts of the Far East. (Don’t want stench? Plant male ginkgos). A nice present for that special someone is a carrion flower plant (Stapelia). The most common species is a succulent that grows well on windowsills and has huge star-shaped flowers that smell like rotting flesh. I knew someone who had theirs visited by flies, and maggots hatched in it. It’s not quite the same message as giving someone a dozen roses, but certainly more memorable. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/49 "2004-11-09T19:54:04Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > I don’t know, but after typing “sperm smell” into Google I DO know that sperm “smell” their way to eggs. Intermestin. > Oh, wait. here it is. Seems something called “spermine” causes the odor. What it origins and purposes are, however, I’m still clueless. Did you mean “spermidine”? That’s a protein found in sperm. We use it at work in restriction enzyme digests for Southern blots, and when you open that little tube, there’s a definite spunky whiff. Oh, and we get ours from salmon sperm, so save the jokes… Or at least rewrite them. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/50 "2004-11-09T20:53:07Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Or at least rewrite them. 1. So who has to jack off the fish? 2. Do you have to buy them dinner first? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/51 "2004-11-09T22:57:49Z")
> [@stately plump buck mulligan](#): > > They smell like giving oral satisfaction to at least fifty men at once, which is about forty-seven and a half more than my personal upper limit. So, your gangbang threshold is two guys and… and what? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/52 "2004-11-10T01:07:53Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Did you mean “spermidine”? That’s a protein found in sperm. We use it at work in restriction enzyme digests for Southern blots, and when you open that little tube, there’s a definite spunky whiff. Oh, and we get ours from salmon sperm, so save the jokes… Or at least rewrite them. They’re both polyamine compounds; spermidine is C[sub]7[/sub]H[sub]19[/sub]N[sub]3[/sub], spermine C[sub]10[/sub]H[sub]26[/sub]N[sub]4[/sub]. Both found in “boy batter”. ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/53 "2004-11-10T01:11:24Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > So, your gangbang threshold is two guys and… and what? _Le sigh_ – didn’t your mother teach you not to ask such questions of a lady? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/54 "2004-11-10T01:23:44Z")
I was figuring it was three guys, one of whom couldn’t…uh…perform. And by the way, **spbm** , “ladies,” so far as I understand, don’t talk about their gangbangs in public. :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/858c86/32.png) [@stately\_plump\_buck\_mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stately_plump_buck_mulligan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/55 "2004-11-10T01:29:24Z")
But may we smile coquettishly and murmur, “Whoosh?” ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/56 "2004-11-10T02:01:01Z")
But of course. I whoosh as well…albeit in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek style. (Hence the smilies, lest they be taken too seriously.) ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/57 "2004-11-10T12:51:27Z")
> [@Starving Artist](#): > > I was figuring it was three guys, one of whom couldn’t…uh…perform. I thought it was going to be a dwarf in bondage gear. ---
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/58 "2004-11-10T15:30:37Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Ya know… now I can’t help but wonder what the selection pressure was which created the ‘sperm tree’ branch of the ol’ evolutionary tree. You think that’s scary, imagine what the Fundamentlist have to come up with for ‘intelligent design’? God: Arcangel Michael, come quick! Eve is about to walk into the Sperm Tree Grove! Arcangel Michael: Look at her turn up her nose! :Wipes tear: That’s hilarious! > [@lisacurl](#): > > Hereabouts, the sperm-smelling trees are ligustrum (Japanese privet). I thought they were called Japanese Bukkake Willows. Learn something new every day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/59 "2004-11-10T15:34:41Z")
Anyone else surprised at the number of people familiar with the aromatic properties of spunk? ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607/60 "2004-11-10T16:12:28Z")
Not really. I mean, many of us have had some pretty “up close and personal” experience with it. Nome sane? :o Heh. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-semen-trees-and-all-involved-parties/273607.md?page=4)