Look to Ginkgo Trees for Autumn Color

Gymnosperm: FAMILY | GINKGOACEAE

Lemon Yellow Ginkgo Leaves and a Vermilion Sweet Gum Leaf

If you haven't had a chance to enjoy the changing colors of the season look for this tree as you venture out and about. I am updating this posting from last year in case someone missed my enthusiastic passion. My favorite tree, ginkgo, is a tree frequently unnoticed until it drops its leaves. What an unusual shape for a leaf and it is such a beautiful and brilliant yellow shade in the autumn!  It's leaf is fan-shaped or "duck-feet" shaped. The fruit is produced only by the female tree. 

GINKGO BILOBA

FEMALE TREE WITH FRUIT
FAN-SHAPED LEAVES
Zone 7

Rarely, a ginkgo tree with fruit is found. I was happy to capture these photographs of a female tree with ripe fruit at the Dallas Arboretum. The Arboretum is a great place to see a broad spectrum and diversity of trees.

             GINKGO BILOBA TREE Topiary           

Entrance to The Japanese Gardens
Fort Worth Botanical Gardens
Zone 7

Ginkgo Biloba

ADDISONIA, VOL. 11: T. 362 NYBG 1926

MARY EMILY EATON (1873-1961
SOURCE:PLANT ILLUSTRATION

MAIDENHAIR TREE

GINKGO BILOBA

Arborists prefer to plant male trees due to the cheesy scent of the fruit produced on the female tree.  The tree above was planted over forty years ago. It is slow growing in hardiness zone 5 where this tree is placed. The soil was like cement when I planted it but it has survived, amazingly.

Two traits appreciated by ginkgo lovers are the golden fall color and in just 1-2 days the leaves fall to the ground making cleanup quick and easy.

Ginkgo is believed to originate in China. A 1,400 year old ginkgo can be found in the Zhongnan Mountains in China. Ginkgo trees evolved before the dinosaurs, survived three mass extinctions, and one species is still living today. The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History is researching how the cells of leaves on ginkgos have changed over time, and whether they can use them to learn about the ancient atmosphere of the Earth. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/national-museum-of-natural-history/2017/06/08/can-you-help-us-clear-fossil-air/ Update 2019:

2021 Hyden Photography

for

Grassroots Horticulture

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