Ginkgo or Maidenhair Trees are incredibly unique and ancient trees that are often called living fossils because they are the only surviving species in an entire division of gymnosperms, their closest yet still very distant relatives.
The Ginkgophyta division is even older than the dinosaurs, having evolved over 300 million years ago. The species Ginkgo biloba is estimated to be 100 – 200 million years old and has remained unchanged in that time.
We have an amazingly diverse selection of different types of ginkgo trees, all derived from this one ancient species that was once thought to be extinct in the wild and kept alive by monks in Chinese monasteries.
However, recent genetic evidence of wild southwestern Chinese populations has shown that they were likely not planted by humans.
While once widespread, it has not existed naturally outside China for over two million years.
Exploring Ginkgo Tree Varieties – 24 Types and How to Identify Them
1. Ginkgo Tree – Type Species Ginkgo biloba
The type species Ginkgo biloba is a tall tree with a conical crown becoming broad and asymmetrically rounded to oval when mature with spreading branches.
It has a broad trunk (to 13 ft) with light gray or grayish-brown bark with vertical grooves.
Winter buds are egg-shaped to rounded, yellowish-brown, with overlapping scales.
Leaves are 1.2 – 4” long, mostly 1.5 times wider than long, on leaf stalks about as long as the leaves. They’re fan-shaped, primarily flat, pale to medium green, and turn bright yellow in the fall.
Leaves are dimorphic, with some being bilobed with irregularly incised margins while others are only slightly cleft and have wavy margins.
Pollen cones are cream-colored catkin-like clusters up to 1” long.
Seed cones are 1 ½ to 1 ¾” long, elliptic to almost rounded, orange-yellow, and rancid-smelling, hanging on long stalks singly or in pairs.
It’s Endangered in the wild.
Other Common Names: Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Ginkgo biloba is a tall tree with a broad asymmetrically roundish crown with spreading branches, broad trunk with grayish vertically grooved bark, and 1.2 – 4” long fan-shaped green leaves that are bilobed or notched with margins that are irregularly incised or wavy-edged. It produces creamy catkin-like pollen cones on male trees and orange-yellow, rancid-smelling, apricot-like seed cones up to 1 ¾” long on female trees. Its large size, pale to medium green, mostly flattened leaves will help distinguish it from most of its cultivars, as will the presence of seed cones since most cultivars are male.
Native Area: Endemic to southwestern China
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 40 – 80 ft (to 132 ft) tall, 30 – 40 ft spread
2. Halka Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Halka’)
Halka Ginkgo has a broadly pyramidal habit with a strong central leader. It becomes more rounded to oval as it matures. Its ascending branches are very dense and uniform, creating a more symmetrical canopy than in other ginkgos.
The leaves are medium green, 2 – 3 “ long and wide, fan-shaped, and only shallowly bilobed and sometimes not cleft at all. It is a favored tree for its beautiful bright yellow showy fall colors.
This is an all-male cultivar that only produces male catkin-like pollen cones in the spring.
Like most ginkgos, it is resistant and tolerant of everything and makes a great park tree for urban landscapes or a good specimen tree for a garden with room to spread.
Other Common Names: Halka Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Halka Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with a broad pyramidal crown with a strong central leader and dense, uniform, symmetrical ascending branches with medium green 2 – 3” long and wide fan-shaped leaves that are only shallowly bilobed. It can be differentiated from other similar-sized and shaped ginkgos by its narrower leaves that are about as wide as they are long instead of 1.5 times or more wider.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 40 – 45 ft tall, 35 – 40 ft spread
3. Autumn Gold Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Autumn Gold’)
Autumn Gold Ginkgo has a somewhat open conical form when young that becomes broad, open, and widely spreading as it matures but remains somewhat symmetrical.
It has the typical medium green fan-shaped leaves of the type species that are slightly bilobed and mostly flat. Its uniqueness comes from the vibrant golden yellow the leaves turn in the fall. The fall color lasts for several weeks before they suddenly drop their leaves all at once, creating a golden carpet on the ground around the tree.
These are all male cultivars that produce only male pollen cones.
They are slow-growing trees that make great long-lived shade trees for a garden or landscape.
Other Common Names: Autumn Gold Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Autumn Gold Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with a mostly symmetrical, broad, and wide-spreading crown with slightly cleft, mostly flat medium green fan-shaped leaves that turn a vibrant golden yellow in the fall. It is similar to the type species but more symmetrical, not as tall, and has a more vibrant fall color.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 40 – 50 ft tall, 25 – 30 ft spread
4. Saratoga Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Saratoga’)
Saratoga Ginkgo has a dense, broadly pyramidal to oval crown with a distinct central leader and symmetrical ascending to spreading branches.
It has unusual leaves that are large but narrow, pendulous, and often very deeply cleft, with irregularly incised margins. They are yellow-green and turn a brilliant golden-yellow shade in the fall.
It is an all-male cultivar that only produces male pollen cones.
It makes an excellent street tree for its golden-yellow fall color and its ability to tolerate pollution.
It is a slower-growing tree that thrives in full sun or partial shade.
This tree was introduced by the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation in California from a seedling selected in 1975.
Other Common Names: Saratoga Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Saratoga Ginkgo has large yellow-green fan-shaped leaves that are narrower than they are wide, pendulous, and often deeply cleft with irregularly incised margins. It’s a medium-sized tree with a dense, broadly pyramidal to ovate crown with a distinct central leader and symmetrical ascending to spreading branches. The uniquely narrow, deeply divided leaves make it hard to mistake this for other ginkgos.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 40 – 50 ft tall, 20 – 30 ft spread
5. Shangri-La Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Shangri-la’)
Shangri-La Ginkgo is an unusually compact medium-sized ginkgo tree with a robust straight trunk with many ascending to spreading branches producing a dense but moderately spreading crown that may sometimes be pyramidal or conical.
It has fan-shaped rich green to blue-green leaves that are usually bilobed and wavy-edged, mainly flat to somewhat cupped, on petioles as long or longer than the leaf length. They are similar to the type species but a bit smaller at 1.4 to 2.4” long and almost twice as wide. They turn an exceptionally brilliant bright yellow color in the fall.
These are male clonal cultivars, so they produce male pollen cones in the spring.
It is a relatively fast-growing tree for ginkgo, and it was discovered by Willet N. Wandell in 1963 in Urbana, Illinois.
Other Common Names: Shangri-La Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Shangri-La Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with numerous compact ascending to spreading branches that produce a compact but spreading crown that may be pyramidal or conical. It has rich green to blue-green fan-shaped leaves that are mainly flat to somewhat cupped, usually bi-lobed, wavy-edged, and almost twice as wide as their 1.4 – 2.4” length, on petioles as long or longer than the leaf. It appears similar to the type species but is a much faster-growing smaller tree with a straighter trunk and a much more compact branching pattern.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 40 – 55 ft tall, 30 – 40 ft spread
6. Summer Rainbow Ginkgo Tree Ginkgo biloba ‘Summer Rainbow’
Summer Rainbow Ginkgo is a dwarf cultivar that grows to 6 – 10 ft in the first ten years with a maximum height of about 30 ft.
It has small to medium-sized, mostly flat, fan-shaped leaves that are often deeply divided but are not typically incised on the margins.
The leaves are striking in their color. They have a lovely variegated shade of green and bright yellow that does not seem to revert to green like other variegated forms of ginkgo often do. The color intensifies into the summer before turning yellow and gold in the fall.
This one is a female cultivar that may eventually produce female seed cones.
It does best in average, well-drained soil in full sun and easily tolerates urban conditions.
With its slow growth and small size, it can easily be grown in a pot on a patio.
Other Common Names: Summer Rainbow Maidenhair Tree, Sunstream Ginkgo
Identifying Features: Summer Rainbow Ginkgo is a variegated cultivar with small or medium, mostly flat, fan-shaped leaves that are often deeply divided with wavy margins that are not typically incised and are a lovely variegated green and bright yellow. It is a female cultivar that may eventually produce female seed cones. It can be differentiated from California Sunset, which has more pendulous leaves that are longer and narrower and sometimes incised on their margins.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 20 – 30 ft tall, 10 – 15 ft spread
7. California Sunset Ginkgo Tree Ginkgo biloba ‘California Sunset
California Sunset is a new cultivar that is a small tree or shrub with light gray-brown bark and reaching an estimated height of 15 ft.
It has a nice compact pyramidal habit with pendulous leaves giving it an elegant and somewhat weeping appearance though the branches themselves are mostly ascending or horizontal.
Its long and narrow fan-shaped pendulous leaves emerge a variegated yellow and pale creamy yellow in the spring before turning dark green with irregular yellow streaks in the summer. In the fall, they turn a golden yellow. They are deeply divided and irregularly wavy-edged and slightly incised on the margins.
It is recommended to plant it in a spot with afternoon shade to prevent any possible loss of variegation.
With its slow growth and small size, it is an excellent specimen to grow in a pot.
Other Common Names: California Sunset Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: California Sunset is a dwarf variegated cultivar with long and narrow pendulous leaves that are variegated dark green and yellow, deeply bilobed, and have irregularly wavy-edged to irregularly incised margins. Summer Rainbow has leaves that are not as narrow, not pendulous, and have smoother margins that are not typically incised.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 10 – 15 ft tall**, 6 – 8 ft spread **estimated
8. Beijing Gold Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Beijing Gold’)
Beijing Gold Ginkgo is a dwarf tree with a conical or pyramidal crown and ascending branches.
The leaves change throughout the season for an exciting color display. In spring they emerge buttery yellow with creamy white variegation. Then as spring progresses, the yellow is pushed to the edge of the leaves until, by summer, they are dark green with thin strips of white. Finally, in the fall, they turn bright yellow for a spectacular fall color show.
The fan-shaped leaves may be flat or cupped, deeply bilobed to barely notched, with wavy-edged to almost smooth margins that are not incised.
It is an all-male cultivar, producing male pollen cones in the spring.
Being a small dwarf tree, it is suitable for tight spaces and can be easily grown in a pot on your porch or patio, and can be grown in full sun or partial shade.
Other Common Names: Beijing Gold Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Beijing Gold Ginkgo is a shrub or dwarf tree with slightly variegated leaves that change colors throughout the season from buttery yellow to green with yellow edges, then green with white variegation, and finally bright yellow in the fall. The leaves may be flat or somewhat cupped, deeply lobed to barely notched, and have wavy-edged to almost smooth margins that are never incised. Its variable leaves can make it challenging to identify at once, but visiting it throughout the season will enable a positive identification since other variegated forms do not typically change so much.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 6 – 13 ft tall, 6 – 13 ft spread
9. Snow Cloud Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Snow Cloud’)
Snow Cloud Ginkgo is an upright dwarf cultivar with spreading branches that originated in Japan and was introduced to North America in 2010.
Its leaves are uniquely colored. They emerge cream and white with rays of green at the base in the spring, appearing frosted. Then by summer, the green comes through more, leaving variegated streaks of cream and white. Finally, in the fall, they turn a bright golden-yellow, where you can sometimes again see variegation with cream and white streaks.
The bilobed leaves are either flat or convex (curling slightly towards the backside) and have irregularly wavy-edged margins that are typically not incised or only shallowly so.
This tree is best planted in a location with direct morning sun and afternoon shade to protect the variegation, which may fade if planted in full afternoon sun.
Other Common Names: Snow Cloud Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo biloba ‘Frosty’
Identifying Features: Snow Cloud Ginkgo is an upright dwarf tree or small shrub with spreading branches and unusually colored leaves. The leaves emerge cream and white with rays of green at the base in spring, then turn green with lots of cream and white variegation before turning golden yellow with cream and white variegation in the spring. Its unusual coloring on leaves that are typical in shape for the group but may be flat or convex makes it easy to identify.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 10 – 15 ft (to 20 ft) tall**, 8 – 10 ft spread **estimated
10. Jade Butterflies Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Jade Butterflies’)
Jade Butterflies is a slow-growing dwarf tree with an upright, pyramidal to narrowly pyramidal form with compact, somewhat ascending branches.
Being a recent introduction, its mature height is still unknown, but it may reach 40 ft.
The leaves are small at 2” long and wide and are cupped and arranged in unusually dense clusters on older branches. They are a very vibrant dark green, darker than other ginkgos. They are often deeply cleft with irregularly incised to wavy-edged margins. They are supposed to resemble butterflies with jade wings, giving them their name.
In the fall, the leaves turn a showy golden yellow that is also a bit darker than other ginkgos.
This is an all-male cultivar that produces small greenish male pollen cones in the spring.
Other Common Names: Jade Butterflies Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Jade Butterflies Ginkgo has small 2” cupped leaves that are deeply cleft with irregularly incised to wavy-edged margins, vibrant dark green, and arranged in very dense clusters on older branches. It is a small tree with compact, somewhat ascending branches producing a pyramidal form. Chase Manhattan has similar leaves, but their margins are never as irregularly incised, they are not as densely packed, and they will always remain a shrub.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 20 – 40 ft tall**, 10 – 20 ft spread **estimate
11. Chase Manhatten Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Chase Manhattan’)
Chase Manhattan Ginkgo is a truly dwarf ginkgo that will always remain shrub-sized, never attaining the heights of even a small tree.
It has an upright and spreading crown with usually closely spaced branches giving it a compact spreading form.
It has small emerald green fan-shaped leaves that are slightly to strongly cupped and held very upright. They are cleft into two lobes, which are irregularly wavy-edged but are generally not incised or if they are only occasionally and not as jagged as others. The leaves turn a rich golden-yellow in the fall.
It thrives in full sun in any type of well-draining soil and works well in containers and rock gardens, and is sometimes used as a bonsai.
Other Common Names: Chase Manhatten Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Chase Manhattan Ginkgo is a shrub with a compact spreading form and emerald green fan-shaped leaves that are held very erect and are slightly to strongly cupped, with wavy-edged margins that are not irregularly incised. Jade Butterflies also has dark green cupped leaves, but it has a taller habit, and their leaves are often irregularly and jaggedly incised.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 5 – 6 ft tall, 3 – 4 ft spread
12. Troll Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba “Troll’)
Troll Ginkgo is a dwarf shrubby cultivar that is one of the shortest cultivars there is, maturing to a height of only 3 ft tall and about as wide.
It typically grows as a bushy shrub with a rounded crown that is densely covered with leaves, hiding much of its stem. It can also be trained to grow in a small pyramidal tree-like shrub.
It has small fan-shaped leaves that are cleft into two lobes which are either irregularly wavy-edged or irregularly incised. They are strongly cupped and are a rich green to blue-green in spring and summer and change to bright yellow in the fall.
Like most ginkgos, it does best in average, well-drained soil in full sun.
With its diminutive size, it makes it ideal it ideal for small gardens or as a great container plant for a porch or patio.
Other Common Names: Troll Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Troll Ginkgo is a very dwarf cultivar, never growing past 3 ft in height and width. It has strongly cupped green to blue-green leaves that are bilobed with irregularly wavy-edged to irregularly-incised margins. Its diminutive size will distinguish it from most other cultivars other than Mariken Ginkgo, but that one spreads out much wider than it does tall.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 2 – 3 ft tall, 1 – 3 ft spread
13. Mariken Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Mariken’)
Mariken Ginkgo is a short shrub that starts out conical to spreading but usually ends up flattened as it matures, naturally spreading much wider than it does tall, though it can also be pruned into a rounded crown.
It has small, deeply cupped green leaves that turn a uniform golden-yellow color in the fall.
It is very slow-growing, and its compact size makes it suitable for container gardening or used as a bonsai tree.
It requires full sun and minimal attention and is tolerant to air pollution, clay soil, pests, and disease.
It was cultivated from a witch’s broom found on a type species in 1995 by Piet Vergeldt in Kronenburger Park, Netherlands. Witches brooms are deformities that create a dense mass of shoots from a single point, creating a structure that looks like a broom or bird’s nest.
Other Common Names: Mariken Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Mariken Ginkgo is an unusual ginkgo with a very low and spreading shrubby habit, growing much wider than it does tall. This, combined with its deeply cupped green leaves, make it easy to identify and hard to mistake for other ginkgos except for Troll Ginkgo, but that one is a more compact shrub that never spreads wider than it does tall.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 2 – 3 ft tall, 2 – 8 ft spread
14. Casimir The Great Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Kazimierz Wielki’)
Casimir The Great is the English translation for its Polish name, Kazimierz Wielki. It is a new cultivar created by Stanisława Korszun at the University of Life Sciences in Poznań, Poland.
It has a pyramidal crown with ascending branches but very long twigs that descend under their weight, giving the whole tree a weeping appearance.
It has the most enormous leaves of any ginkgo, reaching sizes of almost 8” long, which is likely where it gets its name from. They are medium-green, broadly fan-shaped, bilobed, and typically irregularly and often deeply incised on their margins that are sometimes also revolute, folding backward slightly to the backside of the leaf.
It is a quick-growing cultivar, faster than most other ginkgos. It can reach heights of over 30 ft relatively quickly, making it suitable for parks and larger gardens.
Other Common Names: Casimir The Great Maidenhair Tree, Kazimierz Wielki Ginkgo
Identifying Features: Casimir The Great Ginkgo has the largest leaves of any ginkgo, reaching sizes of almost 8”. They are broadly fan-shaped, bilobed, and often irregularly and sometimes deeply incised on the margins that may also be slightly revolute. The huge medium-green leaves on a small to medium-sized tree with weeping twigs make it hard to mistake this for other ginkgos.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 25 – 35 ft tall, 15 – 25 ft spread
15. Weeping Wonder Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Weeping Wonder’)
Weeping Wonder Ginkgo is an upright large shrub or small tree with a strong central leader. Its side branches are horizontal to pendulous, often growing randomly in different directions.
Its twigs are pendulous, giving it an overall weeping appearance.
The leaves are yellow-green, sometimes with lime-green variegation. They are known to be heterophyllous rather than dimorphic, with as many as five distinct leaf forms on the same tree that vary in size, shape, and width. In general, however, the leaves are typically wider than most ginkgos. They turn a golden yellow in the fall.
It is a tough, resistant tree that grows best in average, well-drained soils in full sun.
This cultivar came from a witch’s broom in the early 2000s found by Rich Eyre and Mike Dirksen in Springfield, Illinois. It was from a female tree, so it will likely produce female cones when it matures.
Other Common Names: Weeping Wonder Maidenhair Tree, Mutant Weeper
Identifying Features: Weeping Wonder Ginkgo is a unique female cultivar that is a large shrub to small tree with an overall weeping form created by various horizontal to pendulous branches and weeping twigs that often stick out randomly in different directions. It also has highly variable yellow-green leaves with as many as five different leaf forms present on the same tree. The overall weeping form, random branching pattern, and unusually variable leaves would make it hard to mistake this for other ginkgos.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 6 – 10 ft tall, 4 – 5 ft spread
16. Boleslaw Chrobry Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Boleslaw Chrobry’)
Boleslaw Chrobry Ginkgo is a new cultivar from the University of Life Sciences in Poznań, Poland, introduced in 2007.
It is a medium-sized tree with an elegantly-weeping irregular crown made of asymmetrical descending branches. It is expected to grow to heights of 40 ft tall, though it is too new to know for sure.
It has larger leaves that are wider than most ginkgos that are often very deeply cleft into two lobes that are themselves irregularly and often very deeply incised, creating a distinctive jagged look. They are variable in color and may be light to medium green or sometimes slightly glaucous blue-green.
It is a very decorative cultivar recommended for large gardens and open spaces where its unusual habit can be enjoyed.
Other Common Names: Boleslaw Chrobry Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Boleslaw Chrobry is a medium-sized tree with an irregular weeping crown made of asymmetrical descending branches not seen in many ginkgos. It has large, broad, light to medium or glaucous blue-green leaves that are often both very deeply cleft and very deeply incised. These two features in combination will make it easy to identify this ginkgo.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 30 – 40 ft tall**, 15 – 25 ft spread **estimated
17. Fairmont Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Fairmont’)
Fairmont Ginkgo has a narrowly pyramidal to ovate crown. When young, its branches are almost horizontal, but they become ascending with age.
Its leaves are fan-shaped and usually cupped and cleft into two lobes with irregularly wavy-edged margins that may also be incised. They are deep green to an almost bluish-gray-green that may be glaucous on the lower surface.
In the fall, the leaves turn a brilliant gold color, but they drop relatively quickly.
It is an all-male cultivar that produces green pollen cones in the spring.
It grows best in full sun in soils that are medium-moist and well-draining but tolerates poor drainage, drought, and air pollution.
The original tree came from a grafting of the type species planted in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia in 1876.
Other Common Names: Fairmont Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Fairmont Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with a narrowly pyramidal to ovate crown and horizontal branches that become ascending with age. Its often cupped fan-shaped leaves are bilobed with wavy-edged margins that may be incised and are deep green to bluish-gray-green with a glaucous lower surface. It can be confused with Akebono Ginkgo, but that one typically has irregularly incised margins, and its leaves are not glaucous.
USDA Growing Zones: 5 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 30 – 50 ft tall, 15 – 20 ft spread
18. Upright Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba ‘Fastigiata’)
Upright Ginkgo has an upright, narrow conical form with strongly ascending branches keeping its shape very compact so that it is only slightly broader at the base. It is very symmetrical, with different individuals all appearing very similar.
Its deep green fan-shaped leaves are mostly flat, bilobed, 2 – 4” long, and turn a uniform golden yellow in the fall and persist for several weeks before suddenly dropping.
It is an all-male cultivar that produces green pollen cones in the spring.
It grows best in medium moist, sandy, well-drained soils in full sun.
This tree is a good fit for spaces where you want height, but there is not much room to spread.
It has been commercially available for over 100 years.
Other Common Names: Upright Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Upright Ginkgo has a very symmetrical narrow conical form with strongly ascending branches so that it is only slightly broader at its base and deep green, mostly flat bilobed fan-shaped leaves that are 2 – 4” long. It’s similar to Princeton Sentry but its leaves are more flat and not as leathery.
USDA Growing Zones: 5 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 30 – 75 ft tall, 10 – 15 ft spread
19. Princeton Sentry Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Princeton Sentry’)
Princeton Sentry Ginkgo has a very upright, narrowly pyramidal or narrowly conical crown with fairly strongly ascending branches.
Leaves are medium green, slightly cupped, fan-shaped, somewhat leathery, and cleft into two lobes. In the fall, they turn a uniform soft golden yellow and persist for several weeks before dropping rapidly.
They grow best in medium moist, well-drained, sandy soils in full sun.
They are all-male cultivars and produce no seed cones, only male pollen cones.
Other Common Names: Princeton Sentry Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Princeton Sentry Ginkgo has an upright, narrowly conical to narrowly pyramidal habit with fairly strongly ascending branches and medium green slightly cupped bilobed leaves that are somewhat leathery. It can be confused with Upright Ginkgo, but that one has flatter leaves that are not leathery.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 20 – 50 ft tall, 10 – 20 ft spread
20. Akebono Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Akebono’)
Akebono Ginkgo has a compact columnar form with strongly ascending branches, and it retains its compact form even into maturity.
It has bright to emerald green fan-shaped leaves that are flat to somewhat convex, often bilobed and irregularly incised on their margins or just wavy-edged on short shoots. In the fall, they turn a spectacular shade of golden yellow.
This is an all-male cultivar producing creamy yellow male pollen cones in the spring.
This cultivar apparently came from Dax Herbst, Aledo, Illinois, U.S.A., even though some sources say it came from Japan. The confusion may come from the name Akebono which means dawn or sunrise, which is the popular form of ginkgo widely used in Japanese landscaping.
It tolerates wet and dry soils of any type, salt, urban conditions, and more, but must be grown in full sun.
Other Common Names: Akebono Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Akebono Ginkgo is a medium to large-sized compact columnar tree with strongly ascending branches and bright to emerald green fan-shaped leaves that are often bilobed and irregularly incised on their margins. It can be differentiated from Fairmont Ginkgo, which has less incised leaves that are often glaucous, and from Princeton Sentry, which has slightly cupped instead of flat to somewhat convex leaves.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 45 – 65 ft tall, 20 – 25 ft spread
21. Magyar Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ’Magyar’)
The Magyar Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with a narrow pyramidal crown, a strong central leader, and uniform ascending branches.
The leaves are fan-shaped, medium green, somewhat cupped and curving slightly inwards, moderately bilobed to almost not at all, and have very wavy-edged margins. In the fall, they turn a very showy golden yellow.
It is an all-male cultivar with greenish male pollen cones in the spring.
It is slightly faster growing than some ginkgos, and it thrives in full sun and well-drained soils.
This tree was discovered growing in front of Magyar Bank in New Brunswick, New Jersey, which is where it gets its name.
Other Common Names: Magyar Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Magyar Ginkgo is a medium-sized tree with a somewhat narrow pyramidal crown, uniform ascending branches, and fan-shaped medium-green leaves that are somewhat cupped and have very wavy-edged margins. It is quite similar to Princeton Sentry but has a broader crown at the base.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 50 – 60 ft tall, 20 – 30 ft spread
22. Goldspire Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Fastigiata Blagon’ or ‘Goldspire’)
The Goldspire Ginkgo is a small tree or large shrub with a narrowly pyramidal habit with ascending to strongly ascending branches (fastigiate). This makes it perfect for hedges, privacy screens, and spaces where you want some height but not much spread.
To ensure it remains compact, you can prune it in early spring for the first few years.
The leaves are bright to medium green, fan-shaped, mostly flat, shallowly to deeply bilobed, with irregularly wavy-edged to incised margins. They turn a beautiful glowing golden yellow in the fall that persists for several weeks, giving it the Goldpsire name.
These are all-male cultivars, so they will only produce small male pollen cones in the spring.
It is a recent introduction from 2010 out of France, so its mature height is still unknown.
Other Common Names: Goldspire Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Goldsprire Ginkgo is a small tree or large shrub with a narrowly pyramidal crown, ascending to strongly ascending branches, and bright to medium green, mostly flat, and shallowly to deeply bilobed leaves with irregularly wavy-edged to incised margins. It is a shorter tree than most other fastigiate ginkgos but could be confused with Sky Tower Ginkgo, which has shallowly cleft leaves if they are cleft at all, and their margins are wavy-edged to more smoothly incised.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 14 – 16 ft tall**, 5 – 6 ft spread **estimate
23. Sky Tower Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘JN9 Sky Tower’)
Sky Tower Ginkgo is an upright small tree with a very narrow conical crown with compact ascending branches.
Left to grow naturally, it will easily maintain its narrow conical habit. It is sometimes pruned to create an even more dense and narrowly uniform habit when used in hedges.
It has fan-shaped leaves that are rich green, slightly cupped to nearly flat, and are only shallowly cleft, if at all. Their margins are wavy-edged to irregularly but smoothly incised. They turn a spectacular bright yellow color in the fall that typically persists for several weeks.
It is another all-male cultivar that produces small cream-colored male pollen cones in the spring.
Other Common Names: Sky Tower Maidenhair Tree
Identifying Features: Sky Tower Ginkgo is a small tree with a compact, narrowly conical habit and fan-shaped rich green leaves that are slightly cupped to nearly flat, shallowly cleft if at all, and have wavy-edged to irregularly but smoothly incised margins. It could be confused with Goldspire, but that one has more deeply cleft leaves and more angular incisions on its margins.
USDA Growing Zones: 3 – 9
Average Size at Maturity: 15 – 20 ft tall, 5 – 10 ft spread
24. Menhir Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba ’Menhir’)
Menhir Maidenhair Tree has a dwarf compact columnar or narrowly conical crown with dense and very strongly ascending branches (fastigiate) that help it maintain its compact shape.
Its fan-shaped leaves are 2.4”, slightly wider than long, flat to slightly cupped, and dark green with a glaucous coating, making them appear lighter. They are often deeply bilobed with shallowly to deeply incised margins. In the fall, they turn a bright yellow-gold color. They are on relatively short 1” petioles.
It is an all-male cultivar producing catkin-like cultures of yellow pollen cones in the spring.
It is a highly tolerant compact tree that will grow in most soils as long as they are well-drained. Like most ginkgos, it requires full sun.
It is a newer introduction out of the Netherlands, patented in 1996, that responds especially quickly to transplanting.
Other Common Names: Menhir Dwarf Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo biloba ‘Gogo,’ Menhir Dwarf Ginkgo
Identifying Features: Menhir Maidenhair Tree is a dwarf tree with a compact columnar crown, very strongly ascending branches, and 2.4” dark green and glaucous leaves that are flat to slightly cupped and often deeply bilobed with shallow to deeply incised margins. The deeply divided and incised glaucous leaves will quickly differentiate it from other fastigiate cultivars of similar size.
USDA Growing Zones: 4 – 8
Average Size at Maturity: 12 – 16 ft** tall, 3 – 4 ft spread **estimated
Ginkgo Tree Identification (With Photos)
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaves
Ginkgo is a deciduous tree, losing its leaves in the fall and re-growing them from egg-shaped winter buds the following spring.
The leaves are all fan-shaped (flabellate), an unusual shape not often seen in the plant kingdom. They are usually between 1.2 – 4” long, and they tend to be about 1.5 times wider than they are long. Some cultivars, however, are nearly 8” long, others are narrower than they are long, and still others are twice as wide as they are long.
Leaves often lie more or less flat like the types species. In different cultivars, they may also be slightly to strongly cupped (concave, folding inwards) to convex (folding outward slightly towards the back of the leaf). This is often a useful feature in identifying the different types of ginkgos.
The leaves are usually pale to medium green, though dark green, bright green, yellow-green, and blue-green cultivars are available. Some newer cultivars even come in variegated colors with cream, yellow, or white.
All ginkgo leaves turn yellow in the fall, with some turning bright yellow and others a golden yellow that may be bright or more subdued.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaf Bases
The leaf bases of ginkgos are usually obtuse (angled at greater than 90°) or wedge-shaped (cuneate, angled at less than 90°). Sometimes they can be almost truncated (appearing as though abruptly cut off), or in cupped leaves, they are somewhat heart-shaped (cordate) to earlobe-shaped (auriculate).
Leaf base is not often used to describe ginkgo leaves. This is probably because they are almost always either obtuse or wedge-shaped unless they are cupped, in which case they are simply described as cupped without describing the base. But it still helps to know the various styles of leaf bases.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaf Tips (Apex)
The leaf tips are usually bilobed, divided in the center by a shallow to very deep cleft (a division). Different cultivars have varying depths to their cleft, which can sometimes be used to help identify them.
However, since ginkgo leaves are dimorphic (come in two forms), this depth can vary significantly even on the same plant, to the point where sometimes no cleft is even seen at all. Other tips may appear truncated (as though cut off abruptly) to rounded. Usually, ginkgos are just described by their varying depths of clefts, or lack thereof.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaf Margins
Leaf margins are usually either irregularly incised (cut) to various degrees, sometimes shallowly and otherwise deeply, or wavy-edged (undulate) at the lobe tips.
Occasionally they can appear almost irregularly rounded-toothed (crenate), and even less often, they may be revolute, where a slight edge of the leaf is folded back to the back of the leaf. Other times, in leaves on short shoots, sometimes they appear almost entire or smooth.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaf Venation
Leaf venation is the pattern of veins seen on the leaf surface(s). In ginkgos, it is usually incorrectly described as parallel or even palmate, but neither of these is correct.
They have dichotomous venation where it forks near the base but then continues in a parallel-appearing pattern towards the tip, with little to no additional branching. Since there is still some branching, this cannot be parallel which has no branching at all.
This parallel-looking dichotomous venation often gives the surface a ridged appearance that makes them appear even more like a fan, like the folding paper fans from Japan.
If you look closely at the right side of the leaf in the picture of the 49 million-year-old Ginkgo biloba fossil below, you can see that even though the veins look parallel at first glance, they are, in fact, forked and, therefore, dichotomous.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Leaf Attachment
Ginkgo leaves have relatively long leaf stalks (petioles) that are usually up to 3” long and are typically channeled on their upper surface. Some have shorter leaf stalks which can sometimes be used to help identify the different types of ginkgos.
Ginkgos all have dimorphic leaves, coming in two forms, and their shape and attachment are determined by whether they are found on long shoots or short shoots.
Those on long shoots are more cleft and bilobed, often with irregularly incised margins, and they are attached singly and alternately along nodes on the long shoot.
Leaves on short shoots tend to have more of a wavy margin with a shallower cleft, just a notch, or the margins may be more or less entire. They are attached in whorl-like clusters of 3 – 5 leaves.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Their Seed Cones
Ginkgo reproduction is unique in the plant kingdom, which makes sense since they literally have no living relatives, being the sole surviving species in an entire division of plants.
However, the apricot-like pseudo-fruits produced by female ginkgo trees look exactly like a fruit. But, because they are not derived from an ovary and are developmentally unique, they are technically not a fruit. And, because the seeds are not encased in an ovary, it is considered a gymnosperm, though they only share a few similarities with them.
And since they are technically gymnosperms, these pseudo-fruits are correctly referred to as seed cones. Not all seed cones look like pine cones. Juniper seed cones look so much like berries people usually call them juniper berries.
To further explain their uniqueness, the greenish to reddish-brown female ovules or endotesta are encased in a hard nut-like shell. This shell is the sclerotesta, which is often called a ginkgo nut. The sclerotesta is elliptic, somewhat egg-shaped, or almost rounded, and 1 – 1.4” long with 2 – 3 longitudinal ridges. This is very large for a gymnosperm seed and not ‘naked’ like gymnosperm seeds either because it has a seed coat, two of them, actually.
The nut-like sclerotesta is then encased in yet another shell known as a sarcotesta, which is soft, fleshy, and orange-yellow. It is this soft fleshy outer shell that produces a rancid odor that most people find very unpleasant, making the male cultivars much more popular.
These two seed coats of this living fossil look strangely identical to the drupes (apricots, cherries, plums) of the angiosperm phylum of flowering plants.
Ginkgo also has a peculiar reproduction method, unlike any other seed plant. In spring, the male cones release their pollen and pollinate the immature female cones without fertilizing the ovule within. Then the female cones mature and fall off the tree in autumn just before the leaves fall.
The fertilization part does not usually occur until after the fleshy sarcotesta has rotted and fallen off. This is when the ovule releases a pollination drop allowing the motile sperm to swim to it and fertilize it.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Male Pollen Cones
Ginkgos are also unique for their pollen cones. Unlike most of their very distant cousins among the gymnosperms, ginkgos produce pollen with motile sperm. Cycads are the only other gymnosperm to do this. Motile sperm are only seen in our most primitive plants, the ferns, mosses, liverworts, and algae.
They do, however, produce somewhat normal-looking male pollen cones. Except that they appear more like a catkin produced by the flowering plants than they do most gymnosperm pollen cones. These catkin-like pollen cones have pollen sacs attached to them that even resemble the anthers of angiosperm catkins.
Their catkin-like pollen cones are green when immature but then mature to cream or sometimes yellow when they release their pollen in mid-spring.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Tree Habit
Habit is the overall shape or form a tree has when viewed from a distance. Ginkgo trees, especially their cultivars, are often identified by habit since most cultivars seem to lack adequate botanical descriptions.
The type species and some cultivars are tall trees over 130 ft tall when mature with conical or often irregular spreading crowns that are somewhat rounded or oval in outline but often asymmetrical and broader at the top than the bottom.
Different cultivars may also be pyramidal, columnar, weeping, or flattened. Many new cultivars are dwarf trees, and a few never grow past the height of a shrub.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Branch Growth
Ginkgo branches tend to be ascending to spreading, particularly in the type species. However, many cultivars are strongly ascending, while others may be horizontal or descending. These features can also be used to help identify the different types of ginkgos.
Interestingly, ginkgo wood, like pines, firs, and other conifers, is more homogenous and contains no vessels or fibers found in angiosperms, only tracheids, and parenchyma cells.
It also has fast-growing long shoots and very slow-growing short shoots, also seen in conifers like larch and true cedars. These different shoots are the source of leaf dimorphism in ginkgos.
Long shoots have leaves that are alternately arranged on them, and they tend to be bilobed and have incised margins.
Short shoots are very short, resembling a bud themselves, and they have leaves that are in clusters of 3 – 5 that have more wavy-edged to almost entire margins. The short shoots and their buds found on their tips in winter look like little spurs on the stems and help to identify ginkgos in winter.
Identifying Ginkgo Trees by Bark
Ginkgo bark tends to be gray to gray-brown and develops vertical grooves as it matures. There is minimal variation in the different cultivars, so this is not used to help identify the different types of ginkgo trees.
But seeing this bark in winter, along with their overall habit or form and their short shoots that look like spurs on the branches, can help to identify a ginkgo tree in winter.
Growing Ginkgo Trees in Your Garden
Ginkgo trees are unusually resistant to diseases, pests, air pollution, soil pollution, and even road salts, making them a favored choice for urban plantings such as street trees and parks and gardens.
Growing ginkgos is easy to do. They are incredibly rewarding for their beautiful form and the spectacular fall color displays they provide. However, as with any tree, it is critical to do your research before selecting a tree to guarantee you choose the right tree for the right spot.
You need first to be sure to understand the USDA Planting Zones. Most ginkgos do well in USDA zones 4 – 8, but some cultivars will tolerate zone 3, and others will tolerate zone 9. None will grow outside zone 3 – 9.
Additionally, you should check your chosen tree’s soil, light, and moisture requirements and compare that to your site. Check out How to Pick A Tree For Your Yard for more information on choosing the right tree for the right spot in your yard.
Fortunately, ginkgos tend to tolerate any soil type, but most do best if they are well drained. Some will also thrive in wetter soils and clay soils, so be sure you pick the right tree for the right spot.
The only somewhat particular characteristic of most ginkgos is that most of them must be grown in full sun. However, a few cultivars will also tolerate partial shade, and variegated varieties are best grown in a spot with afternoon shade to prevent their patterns from getting washed out by the sun.
Ginkgo trees have been cultivated outside their native habitat in China for at least 1000 years. They are not found on any invasive species databases worldwide or in North America. They have, however, been reported on the USDA Plants Database as introduced in several eastern US states, but no data on these introductions could be found. Due to their usually very slow growth and the preference for all-male cultivars, they are very unlikely to become invasive and present a problem for local biodiversity.
Majestic Primitive Ginkgo Trees
Interesting Facts
Ginkgo biloba is often called a living fossil because it is the only species of the Ginkgo genus, which is the sole surviving genus of the Ginkgoaceae family, the sole family in the Ginkgoales order, the sole order of the Ginkgoopsida class, which, in turn, is the sole class of the Ginkgophyta division of gymnosperms. It literally has no living relatives.
The Ginkgophytaceae has a long and rich fossil record with worldwide distribution seen between 299 – 273 million years ago. The Ginkgo genus is estimated to be about 170 million years old, and Ginkgo biloba itself is at least 100 million years old, with some estimates much older, and it has not changed in all that time.
Ginkgos are incredibly long-lived trees that are confirmed to live to 1500 years or more. Some estimates claim more than 3000 years but those are not confirmed.
Ginkgo has an enormous genome of 10.6 billion DNA nitrogenous bases, compared to about three billion in the human genome. Some of these allow for numerous antibacterial and chemical defense mechanisms, but over ¾ of these have been shown to be repetitive duplicated sequences.
Ginkgos do not age like other living organisms whose genetics decline with age. Instead, studies have shown that Ginkgos more than 600 years old have genes that are just as active as those of a tree that is only 17 years old.
A stand of Ginkgo trees growing only about a mile from the nuclear blast of Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of WWII not only survived the blast but even bloomed the following spring and are still living there today.
Ginkgo is often misspelled Gingko, and interestingly, both are from misspellings dating to before Carl Linnaeus named the genus Ginkgo. The genus name is actually a misspelling of the Japanese name Ginkyo meaning silver apricot, where gin means silver and kyo means apricot.
Human Uses
Ginkgo wood is used for furniture, chessboards, carvings, and casks for making traditional saké (Japanese rice wine).
The foul-smelling female cones are harvested and processed to remove the malodorous outer coating. The nut-like gametophytes inside the hard inner shell are very nutritious, made of 13% protein and 3% fats.
They are known as white nuts or ginkgo nuts and are a popular delicacy in Chinese and Japanese cooking, where they are used in stuffing, soups, and desserts. The dishes are often served at special occasions like weddings and Chinese New Year in the vegetarian dish known as Budhas’ Delight.
Since the 11th century, C.E. ginkgo has been used in traditional Chinese medicine. The seeds, leaves, and nuts are used to treat dementia, asthma, bronchitis, and kidney and bladder disorders.
Ginkgo leaf teas and extracts are famous worldwide as a medicine to treat mild age-related dementia.
Wildlife Values
Sadly, ginkgo trees have no real wildlife value. Especially since none are native outside of southwestern China, no other wildlife has evolved to feed on its leaves. The preference for all male cultivars means there are no fruits for wildlife to feed on.
To ensure a biodiverse habitat, be sure to plant other native trees alongside your ginkgo to ensure wildlife will benefit from your garden.
After learning about this fascinating living fossil that outlived the dinosaurs, don’t you want to go out and choose a specimen to grow in your own yard? Now that you know how to identify the different types of ginkgos you can go out and see which ones you like best and choose one for yourself today!
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