Gingko biloba lovely, iconic
Although adding a tree to one’s garden is a major decision, trees serve so many valuable purposes that I like to include them in this column from time to time. One of my favorites is the instantly recognizable and iconic Ginkgo biloba. This stately, deciduous tree, hailing from China, is a slowgrowing, graceful tree that can easily reach 50 feet over time.
Ginkgos feature distinctive, deeply lobed light green leaves to 4 inches. These fan-shaped leaves have a poetic element to them, invoking scenes of ancient Chinese landscapes. Indeed, ginkgo trees are often pictured in Chinese paintings, not surprising since specimens planted at temples are believed to be more than 1,500 years old. While Ginkgo biloba is the national tree of China, it isn’t only China that is enamored of its beauty. Tokyo claims it as its official tree, using a ginkgo leaf as the city symbol.
With ginkgos it really is all about the foliage. The leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating into the leaf blade, sometimes bifurcating or splitting. Two veins enter the leaf blade at the base and fork repeatedly in two (dichotomous venation). The traditional name, maidenhair tree, is due to the resemblance of the leaves to the pinnae of the maidenhair fern, Adiantum capillus-veneris.
Three-inch catkins of yellow male flowers appear in summer, complementing the hint of yellow in the leaves. The flowers are just a preview of the show to come, however. In late fall, the leaves turn a bright golden yellow, making for one of the most spectacular shows in nature. As more leaves drop, the ground under the tree’s canopy is covered in what some have dubbed a “golden snow.”
In rural China, people still appear in the late fall to gather the fallen leaves. They are used medicinally and, along with the seeds, in ceremonial meals. In the West, ginkgo is believed to have nootropic (memory-enhancing) properties, and is mainly used as a memory and concentration enhancer. Some also claim it to be an anti-vertigo agent.