Ginkgo fossil
'See you dude!'
Then a long time passed...
Japanese Ginkgo dessert
Engelbert Kaempfer
After Ginkgo's long travel across half of the world...
270 Million Years Ago
The Earliest Ginkgo Fossil Record
The earliest leaf fossils of Ginkgoes dating back to 270 million years ago in the Permian period of the Paleozoic when seed ferns and ferns dominated and Ginkgo, cycads and conifers came into prominence.
140 Million Years Ago
Ginkgo Diversity
During the Middle Jurassic there was a great increase in species with a maximum diversity during the Cretaceous period (144 million years ago) in areas now known as Asia, Europe and North America. It was common and widespread for a long time.
65 Million Years Ago
The Impact Event
Due to geological cataclysms only three (or four) species were left in the Tertiary (65 million years ago). The extinction of the dinosaurs as potential seed dispersers of the large seeds may also have influenced this decline, which is in line with the fossil records.
7-2.5 Million Years Ago
The Disappearance
The Ginkgo disappeared from the fossil record of North America 7 million years ago, and It was gone from Europe by about 2.5 million years ago.
1000s
Reappearance in China
In the 11th century (Sung dynasty) it appeared in the literature as a plant native to eastern China. In a poem by Ou-Yang Xiu is written: "Ginkgo grows south of the Yangtze River, the name coincides with its substance. Since the nuts have been used in tribute, then it is considered precious in the Capital."
1100s
Religious Connections
The Ginkgos had survived in China and there they were mainly found in monestaries in the mountains and in palace and temple gardens, where Buddhist monks cultivated the tree from about 1100 AD for its many good qualities.
1192-1492
Travel to Japan
From China it spread (by seed) to Japan (around 1192 AD with some relation to Buddhism). The Ginkgo nuts are mentioned in Japanese textbooks from 1492 and later for use at tea ceremonies as sweets and dessert.
1691-1754
Re-introduction to Europe
German physician and botanist Engelbert Kaempfer discovered Ginkgo trees there (1691). Later he brought Ginkgo-seeds to Holland. In 1754 it was cultivated in the nursery of James Gordon of London and in Kew Botanical Gardens (1762).
1784-Early 1900s
Ginkgo in the USA
From Europe and Japan, Ginkgo spread to other European countries, later in 1784 also to the USA to William Hamilton's garden near Philadelphia. By the late 1800s/early 1900s it was a popular street tree on the east coast in urban areas.
Ginkgo in Canberra
1947- 1987
The Introduction to Australia
The earliest records show that Ginkgo biloba seed was received in the ACT in 1947 from New Zealand. The oldest known surviving ginkgo in Canberra is a female tree, one of a pair, planted in the Quadrangle of University house in 1953.
“Male and female” ginkgos were sent from Japan in 1955, seed from New York in 1956, and from the Australian Embassy in Japan in 1962.In 1963, Kershaw in St Ives, NSW was sending bundles of 200 and 400 seeds of Ginkgo biloba to Canberra and Cohen in Turramurra sent 100 plants. In 1987 three additional ginkgo saplings were planted near the reflecting pool in the courtyard.
1988
Medical Uses of Ginkgo
In 1988 staff at the Horticultural Services Unit in Weston had correspondence with a doctor in Switzerland about his research project to improve per acre performance in plantations of ginkgo in Bordeaux, France and South Carolina, USA. The major product line of the company was based on an extract from dried leaves of Ginkgo biloba.
In Australia, and throughout the world, health food shops offer capsules of Ginkgo extract as an aid to memory and debate continues regarding its efficacy in the treatment of high blood pressure, poor circulation, memory loss and even Alzheimer’s disease.
2006-2009
In the National Arboretum
For the Arboretum, four kilos of seed was brought Australia from China in December 2006, supplied by Beijing Forestry University Forest Science Co. After passing through quarantine in Sydney it was sown in boxes at Yarralumla Nursery in Canberra. It took 12 months for seedlings and another year until planting out the 600 young trees.
2009
Ginkgo as Bonsai
In August 2009 the National Bonsai and Penjing Collection of Australia received two ginkgo seedlings raised from the ‘sacred seeds’ sourced from temple gardens in China. These become part of the ‘Arboretum in Miniature’ project, specimens of the same age and provenance as selected trees planted in the ground at the Arboretum.
The goal is to grow as many of the arboretum species in bonsai/penjing form as possible. It will take a number of years before these very young and unformed specimens take on the characteristics and qualities of mature miniature trees.