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Ginkgo biloba
Also called Maidenhair Tree, Common Ginkgo, Gingko, Golden Fossil Tree, Stinkbomb Tree
Ginkgo biloba is a large, long-lived deciduous tree with unique fan-shaped leaves and striking yellow autumn colour, widely planted as a street and garden tree. Male trees are preferred in cultivation because female trees produce foul-smelling seeds.
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo ( GINK-oh, -goh), also known as the maidenhair tree, and often misspelled "gingko" (see Taxonomy below) is a species of gymnosperm tree native to East Asia. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils similar to the living species, belonging to the genus Ginkgo, extend back to the Middle Jurassic epoch about 170 million years ago. The tree was cultivated early in human history, remains commonly planted, and is widely regarded as a living fossil.
G. biloba is a long-lived, disease-resistant, dioecious tree with unique fan-shaped leaves, capable of clonal reproduction, and known for its striking yellow autumn foliage and resilience in disturbed environments.
Ginkgo has long been cultivated in China. It is common in the southern third of the country. Some planted trees at temples are believed to be over 1,500 years old. The first record of Europeans encountering it is in 1690 in Japanese temple gardens, where the tree was seen by the German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Because of its status in Buddhism and Confucianism, the ginkgo has also been widely planted in Korea and in Japan since the 14th century; in both areas, some naturalization has occurred, with ginkgos seeding into natural forests. Ginkgo has been commonly cultivated in North America for over 200 years and in Europe for close to 300, but during that time, it has never become significantly naturalized.
G. biloba is also commonly manually planted in cities across the United States and Europe. This species is highly tolerant to pollution and serves as a visually appealing, shade-providing tree in many cities and gardens.
Since 2016, G. biloba extract is classified as a possible human carcinogen (group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
When eaten in large quantities or over a long period, the seeds may cause poisoning by ginkgotoxin (4'-O-methylpyridoxine, MPN), as found in a few case reports. A heat-stable compound not destroyed by cooking, MPN may cause convulsions, which were alleviated by treatment with pyridoxine phosphate (vitamin B6), according to limited studies.
Although Ginkgo biloba and other species of the genus were once widespread throughout the world, its habitat had shrunk by two million years ago.
The wood of Ginkgo biloba is used to make furniture, chessboards, carving, and casks for making saké; the wood is fire-resistant and slow to decay.
Ginkgo adiantoides · Ginkgo apodes · Ginkgo cranei · Ginkgo yimaensis · Gingko
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Ginkgo biloba by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
