There are living-fossil trees sprinkled around the City, and they go by the name Ginkgo biloba.
Ginkgo trees are strange in that they have broad leaves (so they're not ferns) but they don't flower. There is no tree on Earth living today that is closely related, while you can find fossilized leaves from basically the exact same specie dating back almost 200 million years.
They're hearty, strong, tough, and can flourish in harsh environments, like the sidewalks in New York and Brooklyn. Here's one next to a school down the street from our apartment, on Malcolm X Blvd.
I found some reports that four Ginkgo trees survived the Hiroshima blast.
There is another thing these trees are known for: their "berries." The fruits of a Ginkgo biloba tree are marble-sized, and the seeds can be roasted and enjoyed alone or in salads. But be careful, very careful, since the odor they produce has lead to their City nickname of "shitberry." Scientists speculate that the rancid smell of the dropped fruit could have lured scavenging dinosaurs who'd believe they were getting some carrion into spreading the burly tree.
Feces isn't what I smell...it's more like bile and vomit. Before I knew it was the tree's seeds I used to think of certain walking areas as being populated by some a never-ending frat party, where all new pledges were supposed to barf on the sidewalk.
Long-live the dinosaur tree and it's foul-smelling fruits!
testing testing
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