Ginkgo biloba - Maidenhair Tree

Ginkgo biloba, which bears the evocative name of the Forty-Ecus Tree, is a majestic tree that shines in autumn, adorned with a bright yellow colour. Its fan-shaped leaves form a golden carpet at its feet when they fall. As the only representative of a now extinct family, a surviving monarch of the primeval forests of China, its survival is owed to the fascination that its strange beauty exerts on humans, as well as its incredible resistance to various attackers. Invite this legendary tree into your garden, if it is spacious enough to accommodate it, as it requires space to reach its full potential.

Ginkgo biloba is the only living representative of the Ginkgoaceae family, a very ancient family that appeared approximately 300 million years ago, even more primitive than the conifers to which it is currently related. This tree with a thousand shields has been living in the Tianmushan Mountains in southeastern China for thousands of years. It was reintroduced to Europe in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in the 18th century and arrived in France at the Montpellier Botanical Garden in 1778. The Ginkgo can reach heights of up to 30m (98ft 5in). Erect and columnar in its youth, its habit becomes more expansive with age, and it can spread to over 9m (29ft 6in) in diameter. Its longevity is remarkable, allowing it to surpass the venerable age of 1000 years. Its deciduous foliage is composed of flat fan-shaped leaves, measuring 4 to 12cm (4.7in) in width. They are flexible and carried by a long petiole. Their colour is a vibrant green in spring and summer, before turning to the splendid golden yellow colour that is noticeable in autumn.

There are male and female Ginkgos, which can be distinguished when they reach the age of flowering, around 25 years. The male "flowers" are grouped in clusters measuring 3 to 8cm (3.1in) in length, and they are actually pollen sacs. The female "flowers," on the other hand, are solitary and resemble the size and colour of mirabelle plums; they are naked ovules. A fertilized ovule by the pollen of a male ginkgo will immediately germinate, usually at the base of the maternal plant. Before autumn, the ovule is smooth and attractive but toxic, especially the fleshy part that contains a molecule responsible for the nauseating odour it will develop as it begins to wrinkle. It is a very hardy bush. It is also very resistant, which has allowed it to survive all the cataclysms that the Earth has experienced. It was one of the few trees to have survived the bomb that devastated Hiroshima in 1945!

Today, Ginkgo biloba has become a beautiful ornamental tree, found from the Luxembourg Gardens to the Elysée Palace. A magnificent specimen to display in a large garden, the Forty-Ecus Tree does not need companions, as it would overshadow them both figuratively and literally. A Japanese maple with red foliage and easy to care for, such as Acer palmatum, could be planted alongside it, as the contrast between the shapes and colours of the leaves would create a small event in the garden at the end of the season. Perhaps also a Japanese pagoda tree for its resemblance to a giant bonsai.

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Ginkgo has been used in traditional Chinese medicine since ancient times. Its foliage is now used in the West to reduce symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

The "seed," actually the ginkgo egg, is used in the preparation of chawanmushi, a traditional Japanese dish. Similar to pistachios, they are consumed as food in China, especially on occasions such as weddings.

The cells of the Ginkgo biloba host an endosymbiotic microalgae. This type of symbiosis, between a microalgae and a higher plant, is absolutely unique in the plant kingdom.

The Ginkgo leaf is the symbol of Tokyo, Japan, representing growth, prosperity, charm, and tranquility of the city.

At the origin of founding Asian legends, the Ginkgo biloba is part of the myth of the Seven Sages and the Bamboo Forest, the myth of the Cinnabar Phoenix that consumes and is reborn in its branches, or the myth of the Five Dragons and the Unicorn.