# Name the tree that smells like semen **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995 "2005-06-20T04:22:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/1 "2005-06-20T04:22:12Z")
If you have ever been around one of these trees, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s strong and completely unmistakable. When it blooms in the springtime, it smells almost exactly like human semen fresh from the tap. I can’t really describe it except to say it is a deciduous tree with small leaves that grows about 15M high, small blossoms, and does not bear fruit. I have only ever seen it as an ornamental. Who would use a cum tree as an ornamental, I care not to speculate. It is also not a gingko, the female of which species I am given to believe smells like dog vomit. ---
**Author:** ![ScubaSteve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@ScubaSteve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScubaSteve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/2 "2005-06-20T04:31:32Z")
The Master speaks: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_363.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_363.html) It appears there could be a number of culprits, but the carob tree seems to be the most prevalent. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/3 "2005-06-20T04:33:49Z")
Good luck. [The Master addresses the topic (with less than perfect results).](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_363.html) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/4 "2005-06-20T04:39:30Z")
I have looked at photos of carob trees, I do not think it is a carob tree: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carob](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carob) In the tree I’m talking about, I neglected to mention but the blossoms are small and whitish. The petals drop like snowflakes in the spring. So it doesn’t sound like a carob tree. I keep getting google hits on pear trees, Bradford pear trees. I have seen trees that I know to be Bradford pear, but they were not in the right place or season to make a side-by-side comparison to the cum tree. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/5 "2005-06-20T04:43:08Z")
I’d suggest submitting a photo (leaves, at least, blossoms and bark recommended). ---
**Author:** ![ScubaSteve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@ScubaSteve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScubaSteve)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/6 "2005-06-20T04:45:36Z")
The Chestnut tree was also mentioned as a culprit in Cecil’s article. It has white blooms: [http://genemaas.net/Photos/Hohenselchow\_street.308.30.jpg](http://genemaas.net/Photos/Hohenselchow_street.308.30.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/7 "2005-06-20T04:52:56Z")
Not a chestnut tree. The cum tree is more vertical and the leaves and branches are more sparse… not really suitable to be a shade tree as the chestnut is. Can’t get photos, unfortunately, because there are none around my location as far as I know. It came to mind because I heard someone talking about them. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/8 "2005-06-20T04:54:55Z")
First off, where are you located? That’s an important factor in people figuring out bloom/ plant specifics. Carob is not a plant that overwinters in most US locations, so the bloom/stink time is not likely now…spring, not at all. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/9 "2005-06-20T04:55:05Z")
> [@Brain Wreck](#): > > If you have ever been around one of these trees, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s strong and completely unmistakable. When it blooms in the springtime, it smells almost exactly like human semen fresh from the tap. > > I can’t really describe it except to say it is a deciduous tree with small leaves that grows about 15M high, small blossoms, and does not bear fruit. I have only ever seen it as an ornamental. Who would use a cum tree as an ornamental, I care not to speculate. > > It is also not a gingko, the female of which species I am given to believe smells like dog vomit. And how is it that you have been around large enough quantities of semen as to be able to smell it? ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/10 "2005-06-20T05:05:42Z")
Is this it? [http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm](http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact/aial1.htm) Though it decribes the smell as “peanuts” its more, umm other nutty than that. Is that the leaf arrangement? ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/11 "2005-06-20T05:13:10Z")
Oh, and Muad’Dib, I’d expect any man worth his salt would know what large quantities of semen would smell like. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/12 "2005-06-20T05:33:19Z")
> [@elelle](#): > > First off, where are you located? That’s an important factor in people figuring out bloom/ plant specifics. Carob is not a plant that overwinters in most US locations, so the bloom/stink time is not likely now…spring, not at all. The tree in question is in North Georgia, where I observed it. I myself am quite far from there right now. > [@Muad'Dib](#): > > And how is it that you have been around large enough quantities of semen as to be able to smell it? Seeing as how a drop or two is a sufficient quantity to detect the odor, how can you _not_ be aware of it? ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/13 "2005-06-20T08:50:13Z")
Cherry Blossom Trees!! ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/14 "2005-06-20T08:53:07Z")
[Pics of the “Cum Blossom Tree”](http://www.pureawakening.net/pa/images/2005/4/23/2005-4-20-korea1.jpg) Notice the [White Petals](http://www.pureawakening.net/pa/images/2005/4/23/2005-4-20-korea4.jpg) that fall like snow in the Spring. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/15 "2005-06-20T16:40:08Z")
I find that **pollen** in general smells a lot like semen-- although I guess that’s not related to trees, per se. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/16 "2005-06-20T16:49:36Z")
The [gingko](http://www.treesforyou.org/Selection/Articles/gingko_trees.htm) (a.k.a. ‘stinko’)? It’s a bad smell, I’m not sure that semen is what first comes to my mind though. ---
**Author:** ![mlerose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@mlerose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlerose)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/17 "2005-06-20T18:53:04Z")
I’ve seen/smelled them here in Denver, too, and they aren’t ginkgo or cherry blossom. And they aren’t the same as the link that **elelle** provided. Around here, the tree always leafs around the same time that it blooms, so the tree is never all white. Several of them grow in my neighborhood and there are a few that I always pass by when walking to the grocery store. I think they’re used ornamentally, as I’ve never seen them have any sort of fruit. And yes, they smell quite strongly of semen. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/18 "2005-06-20T19:25:37Z")
We have these at my school here in Bakersfield, CA. They aren’t as blossomy as the ones in Bear’s links. And here I was thinking I was the only one who called them semen trees. Oh, and perhaps it’s due to our climate, but the trees smell all year. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/19 "2005-06-20T19:53:53Z")
Well, now, I’m afraid I have to admit to never having noticed an odor in semen, and I have been around my own for a long long time. I have, I will also confess, had some experience with the semen of others (details will NOT follow). In no case have I ever been aware of an odor. I have also never had a partner comment on my LACK of odor. That may be out of a respect for my sensitive feelings, but I rather think it is because said odor is not only not universal, but is only present in a minority of males. Does anyone have the straight dope on how many men exhibit this quality? And, without referencing the tree in question, can anyone describe this odor? xo C. ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995/20 "2005-06-20T21:49:01Z")
Are they mimosa trees? We had them in the back yard of a house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-the-tree-that-smells-like-semen/308995.md?page=2)