WASHINGTON – It’s an unpleasant sign (or smell) of spring in the nation’s capital: The odor of the popular Ginkgo tree.

The D.C. Department of Transportation will begin spraying the unsavory smelling female Ginkgo fruits Thursday night. DDOT will use the same spray that has been used for the past several years, Shield-EC, also known as sprout nip.

The spraying will begin in the overnight hours of Wards 1, 2 and 6, where female Ginkgo trees are most prevalent, and continue through Wards 4, 5, 3, 7 and 8.

Click here for a map of the female Ginkgo trees to be treated.

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