Flowering Sterculia foetida trees have been identified as the source of a foul odor that was reported in parts of Kaohsiung early Monday, according to the city’s Environmental Protection Bureau.
In a press release, the bureau said it received 10 reports in Monday’s pre-dawn hours of a stench resembling “pig feces” in the districts of Gushan, Zuoying, Renwu, Niaosong, Fengshan and Sanmin.
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.
The tree, which also goes by the common names wild almond tree, java olive tree, kalumpang tree, hazel stericula and skunk tree, produces foul-smelling, green to reddish flowers in late spring and early summer and bright red fruits during the fall and winter.
Its reputed bad odor is even reflected in its scientific name: the genus Stericulia comes from Sterquilinus, the Roman god of manure, while the specific name foetida is Latin for “stinking,” as in the English word fetid.
Other tree varieties in Taiwan which produce unpleasant smells when in blossom include blackboard trees, fukugi trees and Formosan nato trees, according to the Environmental Protection Bureau.
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.
Residents who suspect the smell might be coming from illegally dumped pollutants or an industrial pipeline leak, however, 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.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel