Adult

Ginkgo biloba is the world’s oldest living species of tree and the only species of its kind left on earth, and has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. It’s referred to as a living fossil because it hasn’t changed much in over 200 million years. The ancient trees coexisted with dinosaurs, and a living link to that age. Ginkgo trees have been known to live as long as 4,000 years. 1,2Ginkgo means “silver apricot” and refers to the apricot-like bodies the tree produces which technically are not fruits but seeds. Biloba means “two-lobed” exemplifying the unique fan-shaped leaves of these trees. 1 Known around the world, common names for Ginkgo biloba include fossil tree, maidenhair tree, Japanese silver apricot, baiguo, and yinhsing.Today the Ginko biloba tree is extremely rare in the wild, but due to its cultivation in China, humans have helped ensure its survival. Ornamentally, the Ginkgo biloba tree can be seen lining urban streets from Manhattan to Tokyo.2