Ginkgo or Maidenhair Tree
Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgoaceae - Ginkgo

Description

Leaves: Simple; broad; deciduous; fan-shaped; with or without notched margin; branching or dichotomous venation, gives appearance of long, flowing "maiden's hair"; spiral arrangement on young twigs; on older branches only occur on short, spur shoots; bright yellow-green; turn bright yellow in fall; petiole 2" to 4" long.

Twigs/buds: Twigs stout; light brown first year, becoming gray with stringy, peeling bark; short spur shoots on older twigs. Buds with overlapping scales, brown.

Flowers/fruit: Dioecious. Green male flowers borne in 1" long catkins in spring; female flowers inconspicuous. Fruit plum-like in shape and size; about 1" to 1-1/2" long; tan to orange; fleshy covering very messy and bad smelling.

Bark: Light gray-brown; tight ridges with darker furrows on older stems.

Wood: Unimportant.

General: A native of China and Japan, where it has long been cultivated in temple gardens. Thought of as a "living fossil," since it has likely been around in some form for 150 million years and once was native to North America. Ginkgo is one of the few broadleaved gymnosperms, and is the only one covered in this book. Tolerates a very broad range of soil and environmental conditions. Shade intolerant. Fruit and/or plant part can be nuisances; use fruitless (male) varieties.

Landscape Use: Does very well in cultivated landscapes in Utah. Very strong, upright growth form. Tolerates urban environments including smoke, compacted soil, and salt. Does well in soils with high pH and tolerates heat. Only trees known to be male should be planted because of bad smelling, messy fruit born by females. Excellent golden fall color, though it doesn't last long. These are excellent landscape trees that should be planted more often. A number of cultivars are available that vary in canopy shape, size, and fall color characteristics. Zones 3-9.

Cultivars: 'Autumn Gold', Golden Colonnade', 'Halka', 'Jade Butterfly', 'Lakeview', 'Magyar', 'Pendula', 'Presidential Gold', 'Princeton Sentry', 'Saratoga', 'Troll', 'Tubifolia', 'Variegata'.

Characteristics

---