I HAVE A COTTONWOOD I RECENTLY CUT DOWN THAT ALSO SMELLS VERY BAD. THE CUT BRANCHES SMELL NOW BUT THE WHOLE TREE ALSO SMELLED WHEN IT WAS ALIVE. I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE WOOD HAS AGED ENOUGH TO BURN PROPERLY. EVERY TIME I WALK OUTSIDE, I CAN SMELL THE BAD SMELL. IT, TOO, SMELLS THE STRONGEST WHEN IT IS WET.

I DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH DESERT WILLOW. HOWEVER, IF THE SMELL IS INDEED COMING FROM THE BARK OR LEAVES OF THE TREE, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER REPLACING IT WITH SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS MORE PLEASING TO YOUR SENSES.

What's all this SHOUTING about?

Anyway, the first thing to do here is probably to make a positive ID on the plant in question. I believe Chilopsis linearis is the most likely candidate to be called desert willow. Try googling that name, and see if it looks like your plant.

If that is what it is, the next step would be to look around, and on, the tree for some other possible explanation. While I am not personally all that familiar with Chilopsis linearis, I'm fairly certain that it's not known to have a strong unpleasant smell.

Have you gotten right up to the tree to see if the smell is really coming from the bark or from the leaves? If so, which is it? Have you crushed a leaf to see if the leaf has a strong smell. How about the bark?

Maybe with some investigation, we can start to narrow this down.

idahocactus, our desert willows look like yours but I don't know the variety name. We had them put in last summer shortly after moving into our AZ house. This month we noticed a musky odor around our trees just before they bloomed that definately came from the buds. Once they bloomed they became fragrant. What puzzles us as we walk through our neighborhood is that some large desert willows have the musky offensive odor that kathel mentions. All that have the odor seem to have light pink blossoms. We don't know if it is the tree variety or age, but I would not want it in my yard. We console ourselves that we have the darker-blooming variety, but I would be interested to know if it could also be the age of the tree. My husband is already talking about what kind of replacement trees we might consider. I would be interested in the experience of others.

I can't wait to smell for this. I'm pretty good at picking up on odors and have definitely never smelled a musky odor around my Chilopsis.

One of the varieties I have and have planted in my clients yards is called 'Lucretia Hamilton' and is a very deep purple, and has never had an offensive odor around it. That is the variety in the photo I attached in February. Some of the trees are about 15 feet tall or so and been in the ground about 17 years. Another variety is Burgundy Lace, and Rio Salada. I have never smelled an odor, except a very nice one that I would describe as a pleasant fragrance that comes from each blossom throughout the growing season. Each tree has a distinct fragrance, and I will let you know if any of the trees that are here in the area, exude a bad smell. The trees are leafing out right now, so it will be awhile before they bloom.

I wonder what variety of Chilopsis that the preceding folks are discussing. We have many types of Chilopsis here in the Boise Valley, and I have yet to be around one that produces any offensive odor or musky smell. We have white to burgundy flowered types and all of them have a very pleasant odor, which is intensified with very hot temperatures.

kathel, have you checked your drainfield? ;-)

Mike

OP GATHERED UP HER TOYS AND LEFT LONG AGO.

I am doing a follow up on the possible offensive odor of the chilopsis. Could it be a chitalpa tree [cross between a catalpa and the chilopsis]. They do look like a chilopsis and sometimes they can give off an odor that is not the most pleasant. The blooms are very similar to the chilopsis, but are usually pink, and the tree can get quite large. Lots of them are planted in Tucson, St. George, Phoenix, etc.

My Desert Willow smells like citronella. It is lovely.

Thanks for the comment. I have planted even more varieties of chilopsis [desert willow]here in the Boise Valley, and have found none with offensive odors. They produce light to very strong pleasant scents. Some even smell like jasmine. Citronella --- now that would be pleasant.

I have one. Not sure of the variety. This is the only flower picture I found. It doesn’t smell pleasant, but it’s not from the flowers. It’s not that strong, but my daughter said it smells like airplane bathroom while my husband compares it to incense (as used in Catholic Church). It’s planted pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it’s not a problem.

Iris do you have a chitalpa tree or a chilopsis? Are you in a sandy soil area? I think the desert willow, especially would need that in the southeast. Mine is on the hot, dry SW corner of my house in rainy northeastern Maryland. Out in the garden I suspect it would drown in my loamy clay soil, during wet spells. At least not bloom and ripen wood as well. Has been hardy to 0F.

I really don’t know what I have. A friend gave it to me almost 10 years ago as a tiny stick. She just called it desert willow. I have mostly red clay. It grown on an incline, so water runs off quickly. I have nothing to compare to see if it would do better somewhere else. But it does seem to do well.

I have both chilopsis and chitalpa here in West central Missouri zone 6a and I've never noticed any foul odor. Both trees have survived below zero temperatures with no damage.

Chilopsis is at the south wall, chitalpa is out in the open. I will try to notice any unusual odor this coming season.

Tree in Wichita Kansas, border zone 6b and 7a. Source for my tree.

I've always noticed the smell of these trees in Phoenix. Walking at night, I can always tell when there's a desert willow around. The variety here are mostly the light pink flower variety and they give off this pungent astringent sour dusty wood smell. It isn't the flowers but the tree itself, I remember my parents having this Xmas decoration made from a strong smelling wood that smells exactly like this tree. It's not the most pleasant smell but it's not bad in the background, smells like the desert.

HERE is another thread on this topic. Very aromatic, I wonder if Chilopsis has ever been used for culinary or medicinal purposes?