Ginkgo biloba
Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- GIN-koh bih-LOW-bah
- This plant has low severity poison characteristics.
- See below
- Description
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Ginkgo is a long-lived, woody, deciduous, prehistoric tree in the Ginkgoaceae (ginkgo) family. It is native to south-central and southeast China and is often called a living fossil because the ginkgo has existed for hundreds of millions of years.
While it tolerates a variety of soil textures and pH, ginkgo needs a site in full sun and good drainage to thrive. Avoid wet soils. It can grow 50 to 80 feet tall and 30 to 40 feet wide. Fruits from female trees are messy and have foul smelling fleshy seeds, so planting male trees is often preferable.
This tree’s pyramidal shape and unique fan shaped leaves, which turn yellow in the fall, bring a beautiful quality of light as the sun filters through its canopy.
The ginkgo tree is tolerant of drought, heat, air pollution, and is moderately salt tolerant, which makes it an excellent choice for urban settings, streetscapes, recreational play areas, and walkways. It is also deer resistant. Its sculptural form makes it popular for use in bonsai.
Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: May cause contact dermatitis.
VIDEO Created by Elizabeth Meyer for "Trees, Shrubs and Conifers" a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.
- Profile Video:
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Plant Walls and Hedges
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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'Bryson City'
- 'Golden Globe'
Male tree, rounded shape for good shade, good fall color - 'Mariken'
Up to 3 feet tall, somewhat weeping male tree
Golden fall color, narrow vase shape habit - 'Golden Globe'
- 'Bryson City', 'Golden Globe', 'Mariken'
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
-
'Bryson City'
- 'Golden Globe'
Male tree, rounded shape for good shade, good fall color - 'Mariken'
Up to 3 feet tall, somewhat weeping male tree
Golden fall color, narrow vase shape habit - 'Golden Globe'
- 'Bryson City', 'Golden Globe', 'Mariken'
- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Ginkgo
- Species:
- biloba
- Family:
- Ginkgoaceae
- Life Cycle:
- Woody
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- China South-Central and China Southeast
- Play Value:
- Sound
- Wildlife Food Source
- Wind Shimmer
- Edibility:
- The seed, freed of the outer pulp and washed, is boiled or roasted and eaten and also available in Asian food stores
- Dimensions:
- Height: 50 ft. 0 in. - 80 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 30 ft. 0 in. - 40 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Edible
- Poisonous
- Tree
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Habit/Form:
- Horizontal
- Pyramidal
- Growth Rate:
- Medium
- Maintenance:
- Medium
- Texture:
- Medium
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Clay
- Loam (Silt)
- Sand
- Soil pH:
- Acid (<6.0)
- Alkaline (>8.0)
- Neutral (6.0-8.0)
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Moist
- Occasionally Dry
- Occasionally Wet
- Available Space To Plant:
- 24-60 feet
- more than 60 feet
- NC Region:
- Coastal
- Mountains
- Piedmont
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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Fruit:
- Fruit Color:
- Cream/Tan
- Gold/Yellow
- Orange
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Length:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Width:
- < 1 inch
- Fruit Description:
- As a gymnosperm, Ginkgo does not produce fruit but its seeds (only on female trees) are plumlike, yellow-orange, the outer, fleshy pulp foul-smelling when ripe, the inner wall hard, smooth, and cream colored. When the seeds fall to the ground they can be quite messy. Most of the ornamental ginkgoes in the United States are male.
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Cream/Tan
- Green
- Orange
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Insignificant
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Ginkgos are gymnosperms and do not produce "flowers" however they are dioecious with separate male and female trees. Male plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls. Female plants produce ovules at the end of a stalk. Fertilization occurs via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses, and algae.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Deciduous
- Leaf Color:
- Green
- Leaf Feel:
- Leathery
- Smooth
- Soft
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Showy
- Deciduous Leaf Fall Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Leaf Type:
- Simple
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Width:
- 1-3 inches
- Leaf Description:
- 2-3 in. emerald green, fan-shaped, alternate, simple leaf in clusters of three to five; yellow fall color. Dichotomously veined in clusters.
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Bark:
- Bark Color:
- Dark Brown
- Dark Gray
- Surface/Attachment:
- Ridges
- Bark Description:
- Grey-brown bark in ridges.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
- Stem Description:
- Imbricate mounded acute.
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Recreational Play Area
- Walkways
- Landscape Theme:
- Children's Garden
- Drought Tolerant Garden
- Design Feature:
- Shade Tree
- Specimen
- Street Tree
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Deer
- Drought
- Heat
- Pollution
- Salt
- Urban Conditions
- Problems:
- Contact Dermatitis
- Malodorous
- Messy
- Poisonous to Humans
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Poisonous to Humans:
- Poison Severity:
- Low
- Poison Symptoms:
- TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN. SKIN IRRITATION MINOR OR LASTING ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES. Irritation of the skin following contact with the juice of the seed pulp; irritation of lips, mouth, and throat and stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea after eating the pulp.
- Poison Toxic Principle:
- An alkyl phenol and ginkgolic acid
- Causes Contact Dermatitis:
- Yes
- Poison Part:
- Seeds
