Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba · also: maidenhair tree
coming soonNuts🗓 Seeds drop Oct–early Nov📍 116 on map (0 confirmed)
How to ID it
- Unmistakable fan-shaped, notched leaves that turn brilliant gold in fall
- Only female trees drop the fleshy, apricot-like seeds — many street trees are male and never fruit
- Fallen seed pulp smells strongly of rancid butter/vomit (butyric acid)
- Inside the foul pulp is a hard tan shell around a green edible kernel
⚠ Safety & lookalikes
- Handle the fleshy seed coat with gloves — it causes an urushiol contact rash (the same chemical family as poison ivy). Remove the flesh and wash your hands and tools.
- Eat the kernels only cooked, and only a few: they contain ginkgotoxin, which can cause poisoning and seizures in excess. Never eat them raw.
- Keep adult portions to a small handful, well cooked, and don't give them to children — they're far more susceptible to ginkgotoxin.
Harvest
Only female trees drop seeds, and the smell announces them — a pungent, rancid-butter reek underfoot in October. Wear gloves before touching anything: the pulp blisters skin like poison ivy. Collect the fleshy seeds into a bag.
Prep
Gloved, squeeze or scrub the stinking flesh off under running water (outdoors — it reeks), leaving the smooth tan inner shell. Dry the shells, then crack to free the green kernel. Always cook — roast, boil, or steam — never eat raw. Wash hands, tools, and any surface the pulp touched.
Notes
Strict quantity limits: the kernels contain ginkgotoxin, so keep to a small handful even cooked, and never serve to children. Treated with respect, cooked ginkgo nuts (ginnan) are a prized delicacy — chewy, faintly bitter, jade-green. This is an advanced forage; the dermatitis and the toxin are both real.
Guides & links
Updated 2026-08-09