Ginkgo biloba is a deciduous tree that grows up to 40m. It is very easily recogniseable due to the one of a kind fan-shaped leaves that grow up to 12cm across divided into two lobes. The leaves have characteristic diverging (almost parallel) veins. As it shows on the photos, they turn bright yellow in the autumn. The species are dioecious (separate male and female trees). The male trees are fruitless that is why they are less messy and more common in, for example, urban area because female trees produce seeds encased in fleshy, fruit-like coverings which, at maturity in autumn, are messy and emit a noxious, foul odor upon falling to the ground and splitting open.
The plant is native to Xitianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, China. It is scattered in broadleaf forests up to 1100m altitude. It is the only surviving member of a group of ancient plants believed to have inhabited the earth up to 150 million years ago.
I found this plant in the courtyard of Bridgeford Building in University of Manchester campus. The tree was emerging from a densely growing evergreen shrubs therefore I was unable to state the soil conditions. In autumn the two plants gave a very nice contrast of colours. Ginkgo starter already loosing its leaves which created a yellow carpet under the plant. The Ginkgo thrive in a well drained soils and are one of their uses is being a street tree as it does not need much maintenance.
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