Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba L.
Also known as: Maidenhair tree
Family: Ginkgoaceae
20 to 35 m tall
Planted as a specimen or in urban avenues, tolerates many soils
Flowering: April, inconspicuous
Full sun
Very hardy, to about -30°C, very resistant to urban pollution
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Ginkgo is regarded as a living fossil: the species has existed almost unchanged for more than 200 million years, having survived the extinction of the dinosaurs — one of the oldest tree lineages still living on Earth.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, fan-shaped, with characteristic parallel veins, bright golden yellow in autumn
🌸 Flowers
Dioecious plant; inconspicuous male catkins and naked ovules on female trees
🍎 Fruits
Fleshy yellow-orange seed with an unpleasant smell of rancid butter when ripe, borne on female trees only
🪵 Bark
Grey, becoming corky and fissured with age
🗺️ Distribution
Native to China; widely planted in France as an urban ornamental, notably male trees
🐝 Value for pollinators
Wind-pollinated, of no interest to pollinators
✂️ Horticultural uses
Urban avenue tree very tolerant of pollution, planted almost exclusively as male trees to avoid the foul-smelling fruits of female trees
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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