Ginkgo trees are actually the only living member of their genus, family, order, class, phylum! This means ginkgo trees have no close living relatives! Ginkgo trees can live up to 2,000 years old! Ginkgo trees have been around for roughly 270 million years and barely changed! Ginkgo trees were around during the dinosaurs! Ginkgo trees are actually endangered in the wild and are native to Asia but a few million years ago grew in most of the world in places like North America. Ginkgo trees while not native anymore to the USA and Canada can be grown here and are not invasive. Ginkgo trees need humans to grow them in order to survive since the wild populations will very likely be gone due to climate change and habitat loss. Ginkgo trees are best grown from seeds because it gives them more genetic diversity. An example of a time when a plant had low genetic diversity was the gros michel banana this banana was a cultivar which is a clone of one plant because these plants were all genetically the same when a disease could infect one it could infect them all equally. This led to the gros michel banana nearly going extinct. Unfortunately ginkgo trees are most of often grown as male cultivars which lack genetic diversity because they are all clones like the gros michel banana. High genetic diversity is important because while one tree may be weak to a disease one may have genes to be resistant. This is the case when growing things such as ginkgos from seeds. Seeds have a 50% chance to be male or female. Female trees are actually a good thing even though the seeds they make are stinky. They are important for growing genetically diverse ginkgos. Female ginkgo trees also have a sticky liquid on there female cones that absorbs male ginkgo pollen this means they actually reduce some of the pollen in the air and help with spring allergies. Ginkgo trees will grow in growing zones 3-9 and will grow in just about any soil but prefer sandier soil but will tolerate heavy clay. Ginkgo trees like growing in full sun but will tolerate shade. Ginkgo trees like moist or dry soil but do not like constantly wet or soggy soil they will however tolerate occasional flooding. Ginkgo seeds or baby ginkgo trees grown from seeds can brought on websites such as Etsy for a few dollars. As humans it’s important we grow these amazing trees and keep them alive for generations to enjoy!
Ginkgo trees are actually the only living member of their genus, family, order, class, phylum! This means ginkgo trees have no close living relatives! Ginkgo trees can live up to 2,000 years old! Ginkgo trees have been around for roughly 270 million years and barely changed! Ginkgo trees were around during the dinosaurs! Ginkgo trees are actually endangered in the wild and are native to Asia but a few million years ago grew in most of the world in places like North America. Ginkgo trees while not native anymore to the USA and Canada can be grown here and are not invasive. Ginkgo trees need humans to grow them in order to survive since the wild populations will very likely be gone due to climate change and habitat loss. Ginkgo trees are best grown from seeds because it gives them more genetic diversity. An example of a time when a plant had low genetic diversity was the gros michel banana this banana was a cultivar which is a clone of one plant because these plants were all genetically the same when a disease could infect one it could infect them all equally. This led to the gros michel banana nearly going extinct. Unfortunately ginkgo trees are most of often grown as male cultivars which lack genetic diversity because they are all clones like the gros michel banana. High genetic diversity is important because while one tree may be weak to a disease one may have genes to be resistant. This is the case when growing things such as ginkgos from seeds. Seeds have a 50% chance to be male or female. Female trees are actually a good thing even though the seeds they make are stinky. They are important for growing genetically diverse ginkgos. Female ginkgo trees also have a sticky liquid on there female cones that absorbs male ginkgo pollen this means they actually reduce some of the pollen in the air and help with spring allergies. Ginkgo trees will grow in growing zones 3-9 and will grow in just about any soil but prefer sandier soil but will tolerate heavy clay. Ginkgo trees like growing in full sun but will tolerate shade. Ginkgo trees like moist or dry soil but do not like constantly wet or soggy soil they will however tolerate occasional flooding. Ginkgo seeds or baby ginkgo trees grown from seeds can brought on websites such as Etsy for a few dollars. As humans it’s important we grow these amazing trees and keep them alive for generations to enjoy!
Also this article is very interesting! I didn’t realize ginkgos could be so good for your health!