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Gingko
Scientific Name:
Ginkgo biloba
Type:
Tree
Habitat:
Broadleaf forests
Range:
Native to China, introduced to Japan and South Korea, cultivated worldwide
Status:
Endangered (IUCN Red List)
This species is
NON-NATIVE
to the Truckee Meadows.
Identification:
Ginkgo trees have distinct leaves that are fan shaped and have two lobes (hence the latin name bi-loba). Ginkgo trees are deciduous (meaning they lose their leaves in fall) conifers (any tree that bears cones).
Fast Facts:
Ginkgos are ancient trees that date back to the time of the dinosaurs. They have been relatively unchanged for the past 200 million years.
This tree was thought to be extinct by botanists until discovered in a monastery in China where it was brought back to Europe in the 1700's after its re-discovery.
Gingkos are also called maidenhair trees.
Ginkgo trees are well known in some places as foul-smelling do to the female trees' fruit that smells like rancid butter.
Sources:
Kew Science, Gingko biloba, 2021, http://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:262125-1
Yale Environment 360, Gingko, 2013, https://e360.yale.edu/features/peter_crane_history_of_ginkgo_earths_oldest_tree
IUCN Red List, Gingko biloba, 1998, https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/32353/9700472
Contributor(s):
Haley McGuire (research & content)
Alex Shahbazi (edits & page design)