Maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Fastigiata’)

Features and Characteristics

Ginkgo biloba is a large, deciduous tree that matures to 100′ tall and is considered to be a living fossil. It is the only surviving member of a group of ancient plants believed to have inhabited the earth up to 150 million years ago. It features distinctive two-lobed, somewhat leathery, fan-shaped, rich green leaves with diverging (almost parallel) veins. Leaves turn bright yellow in fall. Ginkgo trees are commonly called maidenhair trees in reference to the resemblance of their fan-shaped leaves to maidenhair fern leaflets (pinnae). Ginkgos are dioecious (separate male and female trees). Nurseries typically sell only male trees because female trees produce seeds encased in fleshy, fruit-like cone which, at maturity in autumn, are messy and emit a noxious, foul odor upon falling to the ground and splitting open.

Genus name is a misrendering of the Japanese gin meaning silver and kyo meaning apricot used in Japan in the 17th century.

Specific epithet means two-lobed in reference to the leaves.

Fastigiate or columnar ginkgo forms have been available in commerce for over 100 years. Nurseries often sell these forms under several different labels including Ginkgo biloba forma fastigiata, G. b. fastigiata or G. b. ‘Fastigiata’. These fastigiate forms (fastigiate meaning upward branching) typically grow 30-50′ tall with upright, narrowly conical habits that are just slightly broader at the base. ‘Fastigiata’ is an all-male cultivar. Leaves turn a uniform golden yellow in autumn (spectacular when backlit by early morning or late afternoon sun) and persist for several weeks. When the leaves do drop, they drop rapidly, forming a golden carpet around the tree.