Talk:Chinese Chestnut

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Regarding the particular odor of the Chinese Chestnut, just identifying it as an unpleasant or offensive odor doesn’t do it justice. People need to know that the smell of Chinese Chestnut flowers really does resemble, and strongly, the smell of human semen. Witness the lengthy discussion on The Straight Dope http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_363.html and http://stairs.happenchance.com/archives/2004/06/nonsense_aka_th.php To wit: "but none is quite so wretch worthy as the Chinese chestnut, Castanea molissima, whose inflorescences, to quote a particular botanical website, "produce a pungent, displeasing odor, like that of human semen." Displeasing? Displeasing? Try eating your lunch downwind of one; displeasing is an understatement. Of course, it's bloody hilarious too - try dragging a supposedly innocent mind into line of smell and ask them to place the odour; they usually change colour... aha! Not so innocent after all." See also: http://www.uga.edu/fruit/chestnut.htm - this is now a cached website, but states as summarized above:

Backyard considerations. The Chinese chestnut (C. mollissima) grows very well in the southeast with little care, becoming a medium sized tree (40-60') with lustrous green foliage, turning yellow-bronze in fall. Some nuts are produced on solitary trees, but more nuts with cross-pollination. The trees prefer dry, sunny sites. During flowering, the inflorescences produce a pungent, displeasing odor, like that of human semen. Also, the spiny burs which contain the nuts are hell on bare feet! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Treesniffer (talk • contribs)