female ginkgo fruits - 1044 Shrader Street

Ginkgo trees are popular street trees worldwide, and San Francisco is no exception - many hundreds of them can be found citywide. There is a lot to like: ginkgos are beautiful trees, they thrive in urban settings, and the species has an amazing and ancient lineage, dating back 200 million years to the time of the dinosaurs.

But as in any metropolis, almost all of the ginkgos in San Francisco are male. That’s because female trees produce fleshy, yellowish, cherry-sized fruits that have a disagreeable (many would say disgusting) odor that has been likened to vomit or rancid butter. As a result, female ginkgos on San Francisco’s streets are typically mistakes - trees believed to be male when planted. And once owners discover that their ginkgo is a female, they often remove it, leaving even fewer on the City’s streets.

But I’m guessing that my blog readers would actually relish finding one of these smelly (but rare) trees nearby. Or maybe you have a pre-adolescent kid who would think it’s fun to visit a tree that smells like barf :) So readers, whatever your interest in the female of this species, I’ll give you some addresses in San Francisco where you can find female ginkgoes. There aren’t many, but I recently discovered some new ones in our 2020 #covidtreetours. The fruits are dropping from the trees now as I write this in January 2021, so it’s a good time to get the olfactory experience at these locations:

3371 21st between Valencia and Guerrero in the Mission
3386 22nd Street between Valencia and Guerrero in the Mission
Three female trees at 845 Guerrero (but on the Liberty Street side of the building)
1351 Clay Street on Nob Hill
Divisadero Street north of Oak Street, bordering the carwash
278 Eureka Street between 19th and 20th Street in the Castro
520-522 and 572 Greenwich on Telegraph Hill
116 Fair Oaks (two trees) in the Mission
654 Minnesota in Dogpatch
366 Montcalm Street in Peralta Heights
102 San Jose (two trees) in the Mission
592 Sanchez/19th in the Castro (two trees)
1044 Shrader in Cole Valley
2860 Union Street in Cow Hollow
And if you know of others, let me know at michaelsullivan415 [at] gmail.com!