About Gingko biloba

 

 One of the most distinctive and eye-catching plants in the Seattle Japanese Garden is Ginkgo biloba, sometimes known as maidenhair tree or just ginkgo. The beautiful golden-yellow fall color of this deciduous tree, which has unusual fan-shaped leaves, rivals that of Japanese Maples. Although having broad deciduous leaves, ginkgo trees are more closely related to conifers than they are to maples or other deciduous trees. Conifers are woody plants like pine and fir that have foliage that resembles needles or scales.

Ancient trees leave behind a history that is preserved in their fossilized remains and, in some cases, even in their current histories. A few species have samples from the past that date back thousands of years. Although there are significant examples of Ginkgo trees that have been planted in botanical gardens and other locations around the globe, the oldest and most extensive Ginkgo legends come from China, where the trees prevail in fragmented woods.

This peculiar tree, circumboreal and indigenous to temperate areas, has survived two of the planet's five major extinction events, including the demise of the dinosaurs. Throughout the cold ages, when the country lost the majority of its territory due to the changing environment, ginkgo trees only thrived in a few areas of China where more hospitable conditions prevailed. Until then, it was doing well. The extinction of the dinosaurs, which might have eaten ginkgo seeds, may have sparked its demise.

The distinctive fan-shaped leaves on long, slender, flexible stems (petioles), which are so unlike the needle- or scale-like foliage of conifers, are another indication of the ginkgo's place in development. The broad, flat leaves feature veins that split off one another and radiate out into the leaf blade. Compared to the pattern found in flowering plants, where the veins create a network like a web, this design is more basic. These beautiful leaves are depicted in the image above with their all-too-fleetly autumnal hues. Ginkgo leaves are similar to the leaflets of maidenhair ferns and grow in clusters at the ends of short shoots or alternately on long shoots, giving rise to one of the common names for the plant, maidenhair tree. Some of the benefits of gingko are as follows:

• Can aid in minimizing inflammation
• Enhances heart health and blood flow
• Dysfunction Lowers PMS symptoms
• Lowers anxiety
• Lowers symptoms of psychiatric diseases and dementia
• Lowers symptoms of sadness
• Possesses strong antioxidants
• Can benefit eye and visual health