What sort of tree did this leaf come from?

Tell your mom, if she can’t find it, to thinko about ginko.

The female trees produce a really unpleasant odor when they drop their leaves and seeds in the fall. We had a row of them in front of the lower school, when I was working in the upper school.

The male trees do not smell. Your mother would have noticed the odor.

way to go, gail!

Yep, it’s Ginko. Interesting thing about ginkos—they can change gender.

I worked near or under those trees for 13 years. The odor was, shall we say, noticeable? The trees and their foliage were pretty, however.

The seed, when planted, is impossible to i.d. as either male or female.
But I think that the gender is encoded. Just guessing, however,

@generalspecific – how long did your mom spend looking? this was answered in less than 10 minutes by Fluther.

The Ginkgo is also known as a maidenhair tree

I knew only because I had seen the trees for so many years.

trees are cool.

My mom spent about an hour on & off on google.
but thanks a ton gail :)

I love ginkos.

@alfreda got the spelling right. (Ginkgo). I got it wrong, several times. (Ginko.) Not my day, I guess.

@gail – sheesh, i was going to say… : )

I really like Gingkos too!
oh, maybe that was geckos

Or El Greco? Anyway, I have a red face. (I just misspelled “governor” in another question.)

Yeah, I had to type it 4 times.

Ginkgo sp. confirmed. One of the most ancient plants.

The Ginkgo Biloba here in my neighborhood are the most brilliant yellow color right now.

And without the really nasty smell? They are beautiful in the autumn…hence the row of them at the school where I used to work. No one knew they would be female and stink up the place. But they were pretty.