Ginkgo biloba

• BOTANICAL NAME: Ginkgo biloba
• PRONUNCIATION: GINGK-go bi-LO-ba
• COMMON NAME: Ginkgo, Maidenhair Tree
• FAMILY: Ginkgoaceae
• NATIVITY: Southeastern China; geological records indicate this plant has grown on earth for 150 million years.
• GROWTH HABIT: Upright, pyramidal, becoming broader and regular with age, 50'-80' (120') tall. Slow to medium growth rate.
• HARDINESS: Zone 3-8
• CULTURE: Full sun, well-drained soil; adaptable to many soils, urban pollution and drought.
• LANDSCAPE USE: Slow to recover from transplanting; select male clones.
• FOLIAGE: Alternate, simple, 1"-2" long (in clusters on spur shoots on second-year twigs). Fan-shaped with forking, parallel veins. Leathery texture. Fall color is an excellent yellow-gold. Dioecious plant.
• BUDS: Mounded, with distinct form and leaf scars.
• BARK: Twigs with stubby spurs; young branches stringy and peeling. Older trees have gray-brown ridges, darker furrows.
• FRUIT: Drupe-like seeds that lie like odoriferous (rancid butter) land mines beneath female trees in fall. (This is a gymnosperm.) Fleshy layer can cause dermatitis. Kernels edible when cooked.
• PROPAGATION: Seed, grafting.
• PESTS: None serious.
• CULTIVARS:
  • 'Autumn Gold' - Male with broad, spreading form.
  • 'Pendula' - Branches more or less pendulous.
  • 'Princeton Sentry' - Upright form, male.
  • 'Variegata' - Leaves variegated yellow