Flowering “skunk trees” have been identified as the source of a foul odor that was reported in parts of Kaohsiung early yesterday, the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau said.
In a news release, the bureau said it received 10 reports before dawn yesterday of a stench resembling “pig feces” in the districts of Gushan (鼓山), Zuoying (左營), Niaosong (鳥松), Renwu (仁武), Sanmin (三民) and Fongshan (鳳山).
City workers sent to investigate the odor concluded that it came from flowering Sterculia foetida trees, which are commonly found along roadsides in Kaohsiung, the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung City Government
The tree, which is also known as the “wild almond,” “bastard poon,” “Java olive,” “kalumpang,” “hazel sterculia” and “skunk tree,” produces foul-smelling, green to reddish flowers in late spring and early summer, and bright red fruits in fall and winter.
Its odor is even reflected in its scientific name: The genus Stericulia comes from Sterquilinus, the Roman god of odor and manure, while the specific name, foetida, is derived from the Latin word foetere — to stink.
Other tree varieties in Taiwan that produce unpleasant smells when in blossom include blackboard trees, fukugi trees and Formosan nato trees, the Environmental Protection Bureau said.
The bureau has asked members of the public who notice an unpleasant smell to first check whether there are any of these trees in the vicinity.
However, residents who suspect the smell might be coming from illegally dumped pollutants or an industrial pipeline leak are advised to call the environmental protection bureau’s reporting hotline at (07) 731-7600 or the city government’s 1999 service line, the bureau said.
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