20 October 2012

A PUZZLE FOR THE WEEKEND

We have just spent the wettest two weeks ever in Le Grand Pressigny.  By which I mean it has rained to some extent every day, the first time this has ever happened to us.  Never mind, the rain was needed and we have still had a great holiday……..more later.

puzzle

However, there were plenty of sunny interludes between the showers and in one of them we found ourselves looking up into a huge tree with these fruit on.  The green thing was on the ground nearby and the leaf came with the fruit.

The question is, what are they, can you eat them and what was the tree?  And how likely are you to find the tree marching up the A1 to York…..?

Bon weekend !!  And sitting here in front of our lovely woodburning stove in South Touraine, the rain pouring down outside, although there is nowhere else I would rather be, I do hope the sun shines for you this weekend !!

12 comments:

  1. The leaf looks like it is from a Ginkgo biloba but I have never seen fruit on our tree!
    Yes it is pretty wet, we have had 40 mm since yesterday morning!! Enjoy your weekend despite the weather. Diane xx

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  2. Aha perhaps ours is a male just found this on Wikipedia -- "The relationship of ginkgo to other plant groups remains uncertain. It has been placed loosely in the divisions Spermatophyta and Pinophyta, but no consensus has been reached. Since its seeds are not protected by an ovary wall, it can morphologically be considered a gymnosperm. The apricot-like structures produced by female ginkgo trees are technically not fruits, but are seeds that have a shell consisting of a soft and fleshy section (the sarcotesta), and a hard section (the sclerotesta).
    Diane

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  3. Ginkgo (sometimes spelled gingko) trees lined a long path where I used to work and in the fall, when their fruit fell, the whole path stank.

    Gold earrings in the shape of a ginkgo leaf are very nice, Jean, in case anyone wants to give you something special!

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    1. I had the same thing in London, along the footpath of the southern end of Bishopsgate. I assume it is impossible to tell male from female when they are seedlings, so the public works department plants them and hopes for the best.

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  4. I love how one can find the answers to questions around here!

    Glad to hear there has been some much needed rain.

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  5. Glad someone else knows, Jean, as I haven't a clue. Sorry it's so wet for yo, but as you say, the area really needs it. Here it was sunny this morning and is now rather cloudier, but at least it's DRY! Enjoy the rest of your stay.

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  6. It is a Ginkgo and I understand the the fruit is edible, however it does stink. Doesn't smell like something I'd want to eat.

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  7. Hello Jean, Walt just checked our records and saw that this October is by far the wettest October we've had since we lived here. October 2006 was wet, but with just about half the precipitation we've had since October 1, 2012.

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  8. Oh, I haven't seen gingko trees in years. When we lived in Georgetown in Washington D.C. there were a bunch (technical term I'm sure) of them lining one of the pedestrian paths we always took. They were beautiful, but it wasn't something we'd plant close to the house! It smelled like vomit (truly) when the fruit lay rotting on the ground. We had neighbors who would pick the fruit (before it stank) and use it for all different things.

    Glad the rain didn't ruin your time there!

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  9. The drive up from us to Ouistreham for the ferry Friday night was horrible. Rain, rain and more rain. Yesterday on the drive up from Portsmouth the sun shone and now in Edinburgh [where it has been bad] we're enjoying some more lovely sunshine.
    I suspect we'll pay for it soon though!

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  10. Sounds like a great time to be inside, by the woodburner. I anticipate Lulu is sound asleep on the floor.

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