Natural monument no. 54.3
- Ginkgo biloba
- China, Japan
Information on the genus and species
Ginkgo is the Japanese name for silver apricot. It is dioecious, here: female.
Deciduous, botanical peculiarity, living fossil, formed around 300 million years ago during the transition from conifers to deciduous trees in the Permian, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and not developed further in evolution.
Stately, eye-catching street, park and ornamental tree; robust, industry-resistant urban tree.
Final height: up to 38 meters and 10 meters wide; varies from narrowly upright to broadly spreading.
It has many German names, for example Goethe's tree (poem: "Westöstlicher Divan").
The leaves are fan-shaped with pinstripe veins and deciduous leaf shape. The autumn coloration is strikingly golden yellow and spectacular.
Male flowers have the appearance of two to three centimeter long catkins; female flowers develop cherry-like, fleshy, yellow fruits with an edible stone. The flesh is unpleasant smelling.
The constituents of the leaves are used for medicinal purposes, for example against circulatory disorders and to support memory.
