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Ginkgos are brillant creamy yellow in fall
I am always impressed with gingko trees this time of year. Every single leaf on the tree is always the exact same shade of brilliant, creamy yellow. Gingko trees don't appear to fall victim to insects or disease and you will find the leaves that drop to be entirely unblemished. The leaves are fanshaped, two-lobed and leathery. The leaves are borne on very long stems so they flutter about most enticingly in the slightest breeze. The gingko, Gingko biloba, is sometimes called a "living fossil" because it is the only member of the botanical division, Ginkgophyta, which survives. If research can be believed, this tree consorted with the dinosaurs. The ginkgo is a gymnosperm and somewhat akin to conifers and palm trees. (Gymnosperm means "naked seed"). The gingko is a gawky teenager for its first five or so years - upright and sparsely branched with no regularity to the length of the branches. As it matures it assumes more of an oval shape, adding more lateral branches.
When the gingko drops its leaves, it drops them all at once. One day they're there and the next they are a golden carpet under the tree - every one of them. This yellow display under the tree will last a long time because the leaves have a leathery coating and don't rot easily or blow about much. If you buy a gingko from a nursery it will be a male clone grafted onto seedling understock. The reason for this step is to keep female plants out of circulation especially public places. The female tree drops copious amounts of gooey fruit that smell terrible. The fleshy covering on the seed contains butyric acid, which smells like rancid butter. This tree is the source, of course, for the brain-functionenhancing herbal remedy, Gingko Biloba. The Chinese used an infusion of the leaves to improve blood flow to the brain long before the alternative health people began marketing it. Plant your gingko in full sun. It dislikes compacted soil so add some composted material to the planting hole. Though all the research exclaims over the longevity of the tree, it has been my experience that it lives a long time only if it gets past its first year. Pamper it a little for a while. Just think what would happen if every one of us planted two or three gingko trees this fall. By next year this time we could become a tourist destination for "leaf peepers."
Dora Garrick Fleming lives in Grove Hill. E-mail her at dorafleming@galaxycable.net.
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