Ginkgo/Maidenhair Tree
Location: west wing of Strong Hall, across the street from Lippincott Hall
Approximate blooming period: April
Ginkgo biloba
Origin: eastern China
Name: Ginkgo: from the Chinese yin-kuo, silver apricot. biloba: two lobed, leaves sometimes incised or divided.
Habitat: Hardy to USDA Zone 3
Height and Form: Deciduous tree, 50+ ft, usually pyramidal, excurrent (dominant main leader), but variable.
Foliage and Bark: Leaves alternate, simple, fan-shaped, 3-7.5 cm long and wide, in clusters of 3-5 per spur or alternate on long shoots.
Flowers, Fruit and Seeds: "Fruit" on female plants is actually a naked seed (gymnosperm), plum-shaped (ca. 2.5 cm diam.), green then tan or orange, extremely messy and malodorous. Sometime fruit is set without pollination. Twenty or more years before a seedling flowers and sets fruit.
Culture: Sun. Transplants easily. Prefers sandy, deep, moderately moist soil but grows in almost any situation. A durable tree for difficult landscape situations, in addition some cultivars can be espaliered or used in bonsai.
Cultivars/Varieties:Available male selections include: ‘Autumn Gold’, ‘Lakeview’, ‘Magyar’, Princeton Sentry®, and Shangri-la®
