Ginkgo Trees: Earth's Living Fossils

Rand Park is home to many fauna and flora in Montclair, including ginkgo trees! These trees are personally my favorite trees, and whenever I see them, I always point them out to whomever I'm with. As the only living things on Earth that do not have known relatives and have remain unchanged for over 200 million years, ginkgo trees are living fossils with smelly fruits and medicinal nuts. They're mainly found in urban areas and are noted for their elegant fan-shaped leaves that turn a beautiful shade of yellow in the fall.

Aren't they gorgeous?

Ginkgo trees line New York's East Village. 

Ginkgo trees, or Ginkgo bilboa, have supposedly been around since the time of the dinosaurs (isn't that crazy?!) and are native to Southeast Asia. They were brought to America in 1784 and are known for their many medicinal properties found in their leaves and seeds.

An illustration of a Ginkgo tree that was published in Europe in 1835.

Another very interesting fact about the maidenhair tree is that the outer part of its seeds produce a very pungent odor. Ginkgo trees are dioecious, which means that separate individuals have either the male or female reproductive organs; a tree is either female or male and it cannot be both. Only the female trees produce seeds that smell and, quite frankly, it smells like vomit. Scientists believe the smelly seeds serve an important role in the dispersal system. The smell attracts animals, such as dogs (and had attracted dinosaurs in the past), which allows the seeds to be transported to different places. As a result, the trees have a higher possibility of survival in environments with less competition for light and resources.

Lastly, ginkgo trees are sturdy, drought-tolerant, and they can survive pollution, the constant salting of roads, and poor soil. And you know about the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, right? Well, ginkgo trees are so tough that six trees survived that bomb, without any deformities. And, they're still alive to this day. The fact that we have such an amazing tree in our park just outside the Annex is absolutely fascinating!

My favorite trees survived that.

Six trees survived the bomb, while roughly 100,000 people died.

A survivor of the a-bomb.

Here are some pictures of a ginkgo tree in our beloved Rand Park:

What a pretty leaf! 

I can't wait for them to turn that gorgeous shade of yellow! 

They provide just the right amount of shade.