The Fall of the Ginkgo Tree Leaves
At my Bedford, New York farm, I have thousands and thousands of trees. Many were already well-established when I purchased the property, and the rest I've planted - they look so pretty in allees, in groves, and as privacy hedges. One type of tree, however, stands out around this time every year - the mighty ginkgo.
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. In the sunken garden behind my Summer House, I have a stunning ginkgo tree that's probably about 250-years old. Although not as large as others I've seen during trips to Asia, my tree is quite massive - its trunk circumference measures at least 14-feet. Ginkgo trees have beautiful green leaves that turn a luminous gold-yellow in fall. And on one day, after the hard frost sweeps down the east coast, this ginkgo, along with others at my farm and countless more in the area, drops its leaves to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of color below.
This happened last weekend. Here are some photos - enjoy.
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- This is the sunken garden behind my Summer House. The main focal point is this great old ginkgo tree at the back of the space. This is how it looks before the leaves turn – it’s filled with beautiful bright green foliage.
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- In autumn, ginkgo tree leaves turn a gorgeous yellow.
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- Here is the same tree early last week.
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- Here is a view of my Summer House with smaller ginkgo trees growing on each side of the stone path. The trees on the left are still green.
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- And then, one day last weekend, it got so cold that the leaves of my gingko tree seemed to drop at once. Look at this soft blanket of leaves. Isn’t it amazing?
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- Here is a closer look. By the end of the weekend, the great ginkgo in this garden is nearly bare.
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- The other ginkgo trees also lost leaves.
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- And look – it’s hard to see the stone foot path beneath all the leaves.
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- This one seems to have held on to its leaves, which are still green.
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- The path leading out of the garden is also covered in yellow.
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- And so is the lawn outside the garden. Why does this all happen? In autumn, deciduous trees form a scar between their leaves and stems to protect themselves from diseases cold. Most flowering trees form scars at different rates, in different parts of the tree, over several weeks. Their leaves then fall off individually. Ginkgo trees form scars across all their stems at once. And when the first hard frost of the season arrives, it finishes severing every leaf, and they fall to the ground in unison.
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- Here is a ginkgo tree at the corner of my herbaceous peony bed – there is one on each corner of the bed – all of them dropped their leaves.
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- Here is another on the opposite corner of the peony bed.
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- And one across the carriage road in front of my Winter House porch – all without their leaves.
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- The trunk of the ginkgo tree is a light brown to brownish-gray bark that is deeply furrowed and highly ridged. The ridges become more pronounced as the tree ages.
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- The leaves are unusually fan-shaped, up to three-inches long, with a petiole that is also up to three-inches long. This shape and the elongated petiole cause the foliage to flutter in the slightest breeze.
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- Each leaf often has a single vertical slit in the top center. This forms the fan with a cavity in the middle separating it into two lobes. Bi-loba means “with two lobes”.
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- My great ginkgo tree is a female specimen. Female ginkgo trees produce tan-orange oval fruits that fall to the ground in October and November.
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- Here is a ginkgo tree fruit.The most noticeable thing about these is their smell – it is hard to miss, and the stench is quite disagreeable. The outer, nasty smelling pulp is known botanically as sarcotesta.
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- The ginkgo seeds inside contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that causes poison oak, ivy and sumac, so always wear gloves and protect your skin whenever handling the fruit.
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- Here, the ginkgo fruit is separated from the ginkgo nut – a single hard-shelled seed enclosing an edible kernel. The kernels are often roasted and used in Asian cuisines.
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- The top of the great ginkgo will soon lose the rest of its leaves – such a fascinating deciduous tree. When did your ginkgo trees lose their leaves? Let me know in the comments section – I am very curious to hear.
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