A Prehistoric Plant!
***Did you know?***
The origins of the Ginko Biloba tree has been traced back to the Paleozoic Era almost 270 million years ago! It is considered a living fossil, existing as the only known species classified of its kind.
This week in the Plant Spotlight is: Ginkgo Biloba, also known as Maiden-hair tree. The Ginkgo tree is cultivated across the world and revered for its historical value, its beauty, its environmental benefits, and its significant medicinal uses. It is distinguished by wide fan-like green leaves, which shade into a lovely golden yellow in the fall.
Although the Ginkgo tree has long been known to the East Asian continent, it was thought to be extinct in the Western world until 1690 when German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer documented the plant during his visit to a Buddhist temple in Nagasaki Japan. He brought the Ginkgo seeds to Utrecht and thus began the spread of gingko trees to Western continents, eventually including North America.
Ginkgos can be grown in almost any environment. They are said to tolerate typically unfavorable conditions for trees such as in urban cities, where there is high stress from pollution, insecticides, drought, and disease. On the contrary, Ginkgos are found to be highly tolerant of pollution and resistant to chemical exposure. They have an impeccable ability to photosynthesize carbon dioxide into oxygen compared to many other plants, and are favored to absorb pollutants from storm water below ground.
The Ginkgo leaf is typically harvested, dried, then drunk as a tea The benefits of Ginkgo are complex, but have been found to target circulation to the brain and acts as a powerful anti-oxidant. The seeds produced from the female gingko trees can also be cooked and is found in specialty Asian dishes such as Congee and Buddha's Delight.
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