The Ginkgo / Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba)

Today I'm going to talk about the Ginkgo tree.  This tree is not native to North America.  It originally comes from China.  It is planted all over the world though.  If you're on Canada's east coast, there are ginkgo planted in numerous locations along the streets of Halifax, and also in the Public Gardens.  The tree is also known as the Maidenhair.

I have a fairly young ginkgo in my background, but it's an uninspiring sight right now as I'm writing this (in the winter).  Young ginkgo trees are fairly uninspiring at the best of times, because they are "gangly and stark" as juveniles.  But they look great as they get older and fill in.  Here's a photo of a gingko in full Fall foliage in Etobicoke:

 

The most notable fact about ginkgo is that it is famous for being the "world's oldest tree."  By this, I mean as a species.  This species has been around for more than 200 million years with essentially no evolution during that time, which is why it is often referred to as a "living fossil."  Incidentally, individual ginkgo trees can also live quite long, sometimes over a thousand years.

Here's a photo of a ginkgo at King's College in Halifax:

 

The popularity of the ginkgo in cities and urban settings isn't simply due to its age.  Ginkgo trees are also very resilient, and can survive in a variety of climate conditions.  They can also survive environmentally challenging conditions such as pollution and pest infestations.  This makes them an ideal tree for urban environments and parks.

The leaves of the ginkgo are quite unique.  They have a distinctive fan shape, and they turn a brilliant golden-yellow colour in the fall.  Here's a photo of the leaves:

 

As always, here are some Fun Facts about the ginkgo:

1.  This tree is widely cultivated for its use in traditional medicine, particularly in China, where the leaves are used to treat ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, and tinnitus.  Western medicine has not found any evidence to support any effective medicinal benefits, but sometimes, just the belief in a cure can be beneficial to an individual.

2.  The ginkgo was first introduced to Europe in the 18th century (from China).  Before that, it was essentially unknown to the western world.

3.  Ginkgo trees are dioecious, which means that there are [separately] male ginkgo trees and female ginkgo trees.  The male trees produce small round cones (which give off pollen).  The female trees produce seeds called ovules with an outer layer that smells like old rancid butter.  The smell is unfortunate, because a lot of people will cut down female trees as soon as they start to smell.  So in urban settings, you will find more male trees than females.

It's possible to grow ginkgo from seed, if the seed has been pollinated.  Ginkgo are pollinated by wind, not by insect.  Here's a photo of a bag of ginkgo seeds that we have in our freezer, ready for processing in a few months:

 

When you look at a mature gingko, it is obvious that it is a majestic and beautiful tree.  But when you know of its history as a living fossil, it becomes even more special.  This is one of our favorite deciduous species.

Thanks for reading!

- Jonathan Clark

www.replant-environmental.ca

Replant.ca Environmental is a Canadian company that plants trees for carbon capture and builds community forests.  We also plant trees in national, provincial, and municipal public parks to mitigate damage from wildfires, storms, insects, and forest diseases.  We operate thanks to numerous small contributions from the general public, in addition to larger project sponsorships from businesses and corporations around the world.  If you'd like to learn how to show your support, visit our donations page.  Even if you aren't able to make a contribution, we very much appreciate when people are able to share our posts or our website link on social media, to help spread the word about the work that we're doing!

To learn more about the various species that we plant, visit the conifers page or the deciduous (hardwoods) page on our website.  Thanks so much for your interest!

Teachers are welcome to use content from this post for their classes.  If you know a teacher who might like to use this information, please share it with them!  The more that people learn about trees, the better our world will be.

Incidentally, our organization is often seeking additional land for our carbon capture projects.  Please visit this link if you might know of a recently-harvested property that we could rebuild into a permanent legacy forest.