Gingko: a fit survivor through the ages
Once upon a time, say, 250, 300
million years ago, in the late Pa
leozoic era, all the earth's conti
nents collided. Hie result was Pan
gea, one great land mass,
surrounded By one great ocean,
called Panthalassa.
During another 80 to 100 million
years, (the Permain age), result
ing grinding of Africa against
North America created monster
mountains? the high Atlases of
northern Africa, and the Appala
chians on this continent.
Siberia hit against Europe, and
the Ural mountains were bom.
Gingkoes, conifers, cyads and seed
ferns grew there.
Then, another catastrophe oc
curred, a comet, it is believed.
Swamps were drained and deserts
appeared. Extensive glaciers
formed, probably in the Southern
hemisphere. Many plants and ani
mals who had lived in swamps now
perished. No more giant cock
roaches scurrying to avoid the sun.
As the swamp forests fell,
pressed together by their own
weight, they formed massive lay
ers of material that would even
tually become coal.
All in all, of the many species of
flora and fauna growing at that
time, only two out of ten species
survived. Practically all the ma
rine species and amphibians died
out. But gingko trees, ferns, cyads
and conifers survived and flou
rished.
A few warm blooded reptiles
made it, some being therapsids,
who later evolved into mammals.
Some developed feathers against
the cold, and found that flapping
arm feathers could help them jump
higher and catch flying insects for
dinner. Then they grew even
thicker feathers, and started stay
ing in the air most of the time.
On the ground, 200,000,000 years
ago dinosaurs developed into the
greatest reptiles of all. Three-foot
long Thecodonts begat Brontosau
rus, measuring 80 feet. Stegosau
rus and Tyrannosaurus dominated
the world for 100 million years.
This whole planet was one color:
green. It took another fifty million
years for flowers to evolve.
Another meteorological catas
trophe wiped out the dinosaurs, but
the mammals made it. As the con
tinents drifted apart, climates be
gan to vary, and the mammals
grew hair and pumped warm blood
through prehistoric veins. Moun
tains continued to come and go.
Apes lived in Kentucky and red
woods lived in Colorado. The Hi
malayas and Alps developed the
mighty forests they still support to
day.
In Asia, the gingko tree contin
ued to flourish.
Glaciers melted, the Great
Lakes appeared, and man began
living all over the world, cutting
down forests, domesticating ani
mals, developing agriculture and
urban areas. The gingko lived
through it all.
Gingko biloba, the Gingko,
Duck's-foot tree, or Maidenhair
Tree, is named after the old Japa
nese worked for "silver apricot",
originally from the even older
Chinese word ngin-ghang. Biloba
means two lobed (the leaves).
Gingkoes, like conifers and cy
ads, are gymnosperms, plants
lacking flowers and reproduced by
seeds born naked on a special
bract, most often in a cone. In con
trast, angiosperms have flowers
and seeds enclosed in mature
ovaries. Gingko is the only surviv
ing genus of its species. Cultivar
are: 'Aurea', leaves yellowish,
drupe like; 'Fastigiata,' of pyrami
dal habit, 'Laciniata,' leaves
deeply divided, 'Macrophylla,',
leaves exceptionally large; 'Mas
cula,' a listed name; 'Pendula,'
pendulous branches; 'Pyramida
lis,' a listed name; 'Variagata,'
leaves variegated yellow.
Gingko leaves are most distinc
tive, 2Vi to 3% inches wide fan
shaped, two-lobed, leathery in tex
ture. Both sides are smooth and
green, with very fine veins running
out from the petioles that radiate
over the leaf blades. The leaves
turn a bright yellow in autumn,
. giving a spectacular show.
Over millions of years, the
leaves have not changed in appear
ance at all. Rock fragments from
geological discoveries in many
lands worldwide frequently con
tain imprints of gingko leaves.
Gingko seeds are the result of a
peculiar process. Ovules are borne
inpairs on the end of short stalks.
After having found nothing on the
male catkin but tasteless pollen,
which adheres to their bodies, in
sects seek the sticky sap secreted
: close to the exposed ovules. Some
of the pollen falls into the sap, and
is quickly transported down a pol
len tube
Fruits are fleshy drupes that
? hang like small plums, producing
; seeds in the fall. Fertilization oc
? . curs within the ovules after the
! seeds have been shed from the
- ' tree. Embryos are formed during
later stages of maturation of the
seeds.
Fruits have a rancid odor, like
bad butter, or worse, which is the
result of butyric acid in their fleshy
coats. For this reason usually male
trees are planted, which are propa
gated asexually.
Occasionally oil from the seeds
causes dermatitis in some people
The seeds themselves, though, are
delicious when roasted or incorpo
rated in culinary dishes. They are
quite popular with oriental cooks
Today there may not be any truly
native trees of the living species,
but G. biloba has been cultivated
for thousands of years on temple
grounds in China and Japan. Be
loved of American landscape ar
chitects for the last 200 years, its
ultimate height of 80 to 120 feet
helps to make a definite statement
in any established planting.
It is a city tree: look around next
time you are in Washington, D. C.
for example. Gingko succeeds
there and other urban areas be
cause it withstands air pollution
and drought better than most tree
species. Gingko does not con
stantly litter the ground surface
around it, as do pecan, maple and
magnolia trees. The leaves drop all
at the same time, making fall
cleanup an easier task. Another
plus is its remarkable resistance to
fungal diseases and insect attacks.
These very reasons make gingko
highly satisfactory for home land
scapes and oriental gardens. When
young, its form is pyramidal with
upright branches. As it ages, the
branches spread and its crown be
comes more open. This pattern
keeps it from being a truly excel
lent shade tree, but I find the re
sulting dappled sunlight an inter
esting contrast to shadows
emanating from conifers and oaks.
Gingkoes require little care ex
cept for some basal pruning when
young, which involves keeping bot
tom limbs a minimum of eight feet
from the ground in lawn areas, and
12 to 15 feet in height if the
branches interfere with traffic.
There is now one more ex
tremely important reason to culti
vate gingko trees, because G. bi
loba is not just another pretty
geological phenomenon. Five thou
sand years after the discovery of
its medicinal properties, it is be
coming an overnight success with
occidental medical researchers.
That's how long Chinese folk medi
cine has used the extract of the leaf
for asthma, coughs, allergic reac
tions, and care of the heart and
lungs.
A research team led by Dr. Elias
J. Corey of Harvard University has
succeeded in synthesizing a natu
ral compound, gingkoloid B, from
the leaf. As yet no one knows why
the compound works. The leading
theory is that the compound inter
feres with a chemical in the body
known as PAF, short for platelet
activating factor. PAF is sus
pected of initiating graft rejection
and inducing asthma complica
tions.
It is hoped that discovery will
lead to a new class of medicine that
will fight not only such recognized
diseases as asthma, toxic shock
syndrome and kidney disorders,
but will help lead the fight against
Alzheimer's disease.
The renewed interest in this an
cient tree has resulted in the plant
ing of a gingko tree plantation in
South Carolina by Garney, Inc., a
Dutch pharmaceutical firm.
Leaves will be harvested and dried
for export, where the drug will be
extracted and refined. So far the
unnamed drug has not been avail
able in the United States.
When next you're shopping for
an unusual specimen tree for the
yard, consider Gingko biloba. With
all its favorable attributes, it is
easy to understand why Gingko
flourishes. It is, as Darwin as
serted, truly proof that the fittest
survive.
The Perquimans County Jaycees are collecting aluminum for recy
cling. The aluminum is flattened before it is sold to the recycling
plant. Saturday, the Jaycees held a "can smash" to crush this
truckload of discarded cans.
NOTICE
PERQUIMANS COUNTY
BOARD OF EQUALIZATION AND REVIEW
The Perquimans County Board of Commis
sioners will convene as the Board of Equaliza
tion and Review on Monday, April 24, 1989, at
10:00 a.m. to hear from Real and Personal
Property owners requesting a review of their
property assessments.
Those persons who would like to meet with
The Board of E. <8 R. should contact the Perqui
mans County Tax Assessor by 5:00 p.m. on Fri
day, April 21, 1989 to be scheduled for a time
to appear.
Keith W. Haskett
Tax Assessor
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(919 ) 335-0531.
<111-1 rum n.jn 1 ? '
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