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The Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), frequently
misspelled as "Gingko", and also known as the Maidenhair
Tree is a very large deciduous tree with no close living relatives.
Ginkgos are not found in fossil records
after the Pliocene era, making it a living fossil.
Because of their beauty and tenacity,
they are widely used.
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One of the most urban-tolerant
trees, rarely suffering disease problems, able to form air roots,
very long-lived, and attacked by few insects. Extremely tenacious,
as seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where four trees growing around
1 mile from the atomic explosion in 1945 were among the few
living things in the area to survive the blast (the trees are
alive to this day).
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Ginkgo is often added to
energy drinks in suck low amounts it doesn't produce any noticeable
effect, except perhaps as a placebo. A number of studies have
been done, showing variously that ginkgo may show promise
in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, improves attention
and blood flow, is an antioxidant, is an aphrodisiac, and
many others. Ginkgo supplements are usually taken in the range
of 40-200 mg per day, and may have some side effects, so read
up before taking it!
Good for bonsai, can be kept small for
hundreds of years.
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The fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs
via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses and algae.
In some areas of the US, intentionally
planted trees are usually male cultivars grafted onto plants
propagated from seed, because the male trees don't produce
smelly seeds, unlike female trees ('Autumn Gold' is a clone
of a male plant).
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Normally 66-115 feet. |
Angular crown and long, erratic
branches. Young trees are tall, slender, and sparsely branched;
the crown becomes broader as the tree ages.
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| Greyish-green, with irregular fissures.
Often forms air roots when older. |
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Uniquely fan-shaped, with
veins radiating out into the leaf blade, sometimes splitting
but never forming a network. Two veins enter the leaf blade
at the base and fork repeatedly in two (dichotomous venation).
Leaves are 2-6" inches long, and sometimes resemble the
pinnae of the Maidenhair fern (hence the name Maidenhair Tree).
Leaves turn bright yellow in the fall.
Short shoots from second-year growth allow
the formation of new leaves in the older parts of the crown.
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| Dioecious (separate sexes);
males produce small pollen cones and females produce ovules
at the end of a stalk. |
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1" long seeds, with
a light yellow-brown, soft, and fruit-like fleshy outer layer
(sarcotesta) which contains butanoic acid and smells like
rancid butter. Beneath this is a hard seed shell, and a papery
seed.
Some people are sensitive to the chemicals
in the sarcotesta, the outer fleshy coating of the seed. If
so, wear disposable gloves (symptoms are dermatitis or blisters
similar to poison-ivy).
If children eat over 5 seeds a day, or over a long period
of time, the meat of the seed can cause poisoning by MPN (4-methoxypyridoxine),
prevented or terminated with pyridoxine.
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| One specimen has been reported
to be 3,000 years old. |
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