A new year, a perspective of possibilities in a life with fewer days behind than ahead, fewer doors to open. That could be said at any age, life a fragile reality that can change in what feels like a heartbeat. And as always… it got me thinking.
I planted a ginkgo tree many years ago and had to say goodbye to it when I moved to my now home, my wee house tucked in amongst the giant hemlock who so far have won the battle of the seasons’ storms and kept me safe. I am an admirer of the ginkgo and its deep history of more than 200 million years, during which dinosaurs walked the land. The tree changed very little about itself over those unfathomable changing years.
I must confess what drew me to the tree initially was its whimsical fan-shaped leaves, unlike any other tree that blesses the landscape now. The distinctive shape with its veins splitting into two lines is almost delicate in appearance, fairy-like, offering up no visual evidence of all the tree has been able to withstand, not a single prehistoric quality and a fine reminder not to judge a book by its cover. This leaf design is only found in very ancient seed plants. The leaves can vary on a single tree in their design, but the important quality is how such a design reduces evaporation and provides a broader surface for photosynthesis while managing water loss.
My love for its whimsical leaves was quickly replaced with a deeper appreciation when I learned of the tree’s incredible resilience. The ginkgo was challenged during the Pleistocene era’s ice age until it almost vanished, wiped out in North America and Europe, surviving only in small areas limited to eastern and central China. Later, human cultivation rescued the tree from extinction, and it once again spread across Asia and eventually to every continent of the world aside from Antarctica, re-introduced to what is now Canada in the 1800s. Several ginkgo trees survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima, which is unbelievable when considering the temperature in the fireball reached 7,000 C (12,632 F). Understandably, the tree has become a symbol in many cultures, a symbol of longevity where individual trees can live for a thousand years, a symbol of hope with its renewal after the atomic bomb in its rebirth, and a symbol of resilience with its unparalleled survival.
No count has been made of the ginkgo’s numbers in Canada because it was wiped out in the ice age here and is no longer considered a native species, but is estimated at tens of thousands in mostly urban areas, cultivated for its ability to tolerate pests and pollution. The ginkgo is dioecious, meaning its male and female trees grow separately. The ginkgo’s fruit, grown only by the females, has some unpleasant qualities of odour and sticky residue making clean up in urban areas difficult. As a result, municipalities tend to grow only the male variety. All living specimens of the ginkgo are a result of cultivation and are no longer found in the wild. Extracts from the ginkgo’s leaves have been used in traditional medicine to aid memory and circulation and for antioxidant benefits, though scientific evidence has not been provided for definitive answers in that regard.
Ginkgo trees grow on average between 50 and 80 feet tall, with some specimens reaching 100 feet. They normally have a 30 to 40-foot spread. The bark is a light grey brown with leaves turning a brilliant golden yellow in autumn. Toronto may have the most ginkgo trees in Canada due to the city’s claim to the country’s largest urban forest, with an estimated 10 million trees. I shall add to my list of hopefuls that I will one day walk beneath the brilliant yellow canopy provided by the ginkgo and whisper my gratitude for its reminder of endurance.
The ginkgo is one of the most amazing organisms on the planet, a survivor, an oddity, a cultural symbol. The message from this precious tree is quite clear to me – we may be smelly at times, we may feel like we are reaching extinction, but if we hold fast to our roots, we can save that which matters to us. The ginkgo leaf looks unusual today because everything else has changed, a reminder we need not follow any sort of fashion trend and stay firm in our choices just as the ginkgo did. And we all know life is a whole lot sweeter when we add a healthy dose of whimsy.
wendistewart@live.ca
