Years ago we acquired some ginkgo seeds from Missouri Botanical Garden and grew them. One of those seedlings is now a tall tree and this fall is a golden ginkgo tree.
Meeting Ginkgoes
I very much remember the first ginkgo tree that caught my attention. It was a huge tree standing next to the cemetery where Benjamin Franklin is buried. This was summer and it was dropping fruit all over the sidewalk.
Since ginkgoes are related to pines, fleshy fruits are unusual. The problem was the smell. It was as though every dog in Philadelphia had come here to leave their piles.
Maidenhair Trees
Where does this name come from? I don’t know. It does reflect the leaf shape. This is a fan because the main vein splits in two, each of these splits in two and so on to fill the leaf.
A native Ozark fern has similar leaves. It’s called the maidenhair fern. I find it in moist ravines.
The tree itself was once – during the time of the dinosaurs – one of several species. Only this one species is left and was found on temple grounds in China. The Chinese roast and eat the seeds.
Because the trees are pollution resistant, they were once popular in cities. The fruit was not a problem as ginkgoes have male and female trees. Only the females produce fruit, so cities took care to only plant males.
Home Trees
There are three ginkgo trees in our back yard. All were grown from seed and we have no idea if they are male or female. Perhaps we will find out in a few more years as the trees are almost old enough to bloom. That starts at around thirty years old.
In the meantime we admire their lovely shapes and leaves. Most years these three never turn color in the fall, staying green until killing frost strips their leaves. This year the oldest one is a beautiful golden ginkgo tree. Another is thinking about it.
We are just enjoying the late, lovely fall colors.
