Ginkgo Biloba Trees also in Kalimpong

Characteristics of Ginkgo Biloba
Jurassic to recent

Ginkgo is a genus of highly unusual non-flowering plants with one extinct species, G. biloba, which is regarded as a living fossil. Fossils recognisably related to modern Ginkgo date back to the Permian, some 270 million years ago. The genus diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the middle Jurassic and Cretaceous, but became much rarer thereafter. While it may seem improbable that a species may exist as a contiguous entity for many millions of years, many of the Ginkgo's life-history parameters fit. These are: extreme longevity; slow reproduction rate; (in Cenozoic and later times) a wide, apparently contiguous, but steadily contracting distribution coupled with, as far as can be demonstrated from the fossil record, extreme ecological conservatism (being restricted to light soils around rivers); and a low population density.

Growing Ginkgo Biloba Trees for cities and town streets or people's yards, the male trees are preferred. Female trees bear a fruit-like product which, after dropping on a street or driveway, not only emits a foul odour, but is also slippery. The fruit is about the size of a cherry tomato. "Autumn Gold" is a popular male cultivar.
 
Ginkgo biloba trees reach 50'-80' in height, with a spread of 30'-40'. Their uniquely fan-shaped leaves start out green but morph into a golden fall foliage. Before the whole leaf turns golden, there's sometimes a stage that I especially enjoy, during which the leaf is two-toned, with separate bands of gold and green. Ginkgo biloba trees are attractive enough to function as specimen plants, particularly because of their golden fall foliage.

Ginkgo biloba trees are disease-resistant and tolerate urban pollution. The latter quality makes them sensible choices for planting along city streets, where they can grow into tall shade trees. At the other end of the spectrum, Ginkgo biloba trees are also used for Japanese bonsai

 

 

Ginkgo Biloba Tree at Chandra Kumar Pradhan Park in Kalimpong:
( The Ginkgo biloba tree is suffering  literarily crucified with “No smoking banners, wooden posters with details of the tree itself and  other notices stuck by  five to six inches nails, which to my knowledge shall expedite the death of this rare species’ due to ignorance and sheer negligence of duty on the part of concerned caretakers )

"The ginkgo is the oldest tree in the world," states Botanical-Online, noting that Ginkgo biloba trees are the lone survivor of a "family that existed more than 200 million years ago" and kept company with the dinosaurs in many parts of the world. However, Ginkgo biloba trees eventually vanished in most regions.

In historical times, the Ginkgo biloba tree's origin is the Far East. The Ginkgo Pages Web site relates that Ginkgo biloba trees had survived in China, where they were mainly found in monasteries "in the mountains and in palace and temple gardens, where Buddhist monks cultivated the tree from about 1100 AD for its many good qualities." Plant collectors from the West eventually were sold on Ginkgo biloba trees and brought specimens home.

The tree's "good qualities" included medicinal and culinary uses, exploited for centuries in both China and Japan. Roasted nuts from Ginkgo biloba trees have long been considered a delicacy in their native China. The trees medicinal qualities are now recognized in the West, too. Treatment for short-term memory loss is just one of many medicinal uses for the extract derived from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba trees.