How to Grow Raspberries
Viburnums are Versatile Shrubs
Friendly Ways to Battle Garden Pests
Free Download: Rose Pruning and Bed Prep
Make Your Own Hypertufa Container
Video: Make a Straw-Bale Garden
Perfect Edges for Your Beds and Borders
The Only Shrubs You Need to Grow
Variegated Plants Create Drama
Big Flowers from Bigleaf Hydrangeas
Lilacs: Time for a Fresh Look
Find the Perfect Tomato
All About Starting Seeds
Building a Compost Bin
15 Deer-Resistant Plants
Bold and Beautiful Zinnias
10 Perennials Easily Grown from Seed
How to Start a Vegetable Garden
A gardener's checklist for early summer
Enchanting Japanese Maples
Soil Testing is Worth the Effort
Off With Their Heads: Deadheading Perennials
25 Robust Summer Bloomers
Garden Catalog Collector
Backyard Makeover Game

Find a plant:

Printer Friendly Add to My Favorites Pin It

Genus Ginkgo (Maidenhair tree)

Ginko biloba Photo/Illustration: Michelle Gervais

GINK-oh Common Name: Maidenhair tree

Only one species of Ginkgo exists: a deciduous, dioecious tree from southern China that is extinct in the wild. Its relatives grew on Earth up to 150 million years ago. Male flowers are more conspicuous than female ones. The fan-shaped leaves are yellowish green and turn golden in the fall, lasting for several weeks. Ginkgo tolerates pollution, making it a good urban tree.
Noteworthy characteristics: Extinct in the wild. Fan-shaped leaves with yellow fall color. The decaying fruit of the female tree has a very unpleasant smell.
Care: Tolerates most any fertile, well-drained soil in full sun. Prune when dormant.
Propagation: When seeds are ripe, sow them in an open frame. Take semi-ripe cuttings in summer. Plants can also be grafted in winter.
Problems: Root rots, lesion nematodes, mealybugs, and fungal leaf spots sometimes affect plants.

Species, varieties and cultivars for genus Ginkgo

Ginkgo biloba
(Maidenhair tree) Be the first to rate this plant

Hardiness Zones:

One of the oldest tree species on the planet, ginkgo grows only about a foot a year, reaching 50 to 80 feet. Female trees set fleshy fruit that smell unpleasant as they decay; they contain edible nuts.