Evidence wild Ginkgo, Dalou Mountains, China

Ginkgo biloba seedling thriving in sun-exposed
limestone crevices in Dazhuyuan, Wuchuan County.

An 878-year-old Ginkgo biloba tree with many sprouts,
a feng shui tree with red cloth strips hung by villagers
for good luck in Maopo, Nanchuan County

According to a report in the American Journal of Botany (August, 2012) extant Ginkgo populations in the valley and lower mountain slopes of the Dalou Mountains (SW China) represent fragments of the original natural Ginkgo range. The area is a glacial refugium for these natural fragments. The composition of these forests finds that the same plants are still growing with ginkgo as found in the fossil record. The trees in this study sites are limestone outcrops near creeks and are subject to frequent natural disturbances.
Ratio female/male adult trees is 3 to 2. Estimated ages for many of the trees show that Ginkgo was present in this area prior to human settlement. Existing genetic studies agree with the study results.
In this rocky inhospitable areas there have been no human settlements during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Han people began to appear in 1664. They have strict traditional taboo against either planting or logging Ginkgo trees as had the Gelao people indigenous to the area. They believe that having forests near their farmhouses is good feng shui so they have not cut down the Ginkgo trees.
A factor in the survival of the ancient Ginkgo forests must have been the belief in feng shui.

Read more: Cindy Q. Tang et al., Institute of Ecology and Geobotany, Yunnan University, Kunming 650091, China: Evidence for the persistence of wild Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae) populations in the Dalou Mountains, southwestern China, Am. J. Bot. August 2012 99:1408-1414. doi:10.3732/ajb.1200168.
Images credit: Cindy Q. Tang

More info and photos on my website: click here.

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Goethe's Ginkgo poem: rap version

Video: the famous poem "Gin(k)go biloba" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe presented by Rap macht Schule.
Instrumental: Figub Brazlevic
Text: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Stimme: Doppel-U (created the Projekt "Rap macht Schule" and brings classic rap closer to kids in the schools. This leads to an alternative way in teaching and so poetry and music get combined).

On my website I write:
"Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
The German poet, scientist, botanist and philosopher, dedicated this poem to his former lover Marianne von Willemer. The Ginkgo leaf symbolizes Goethe's theme, one and double. The Ginkgo tree that was Goethe's inspiration to write the poem in 1815, grew in Heidelberg, Germany. This poem was published in Goethe's work 'West-östlichen Divan' (book Suleika) of 1819, titled 'Gingo biloba' for literally reasons."

Read this poem in many languages on my website.

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Updates of my website The Ginkgo Pages

* Added on my Literature-page: book by Yiyun Li.
* New photo photospecial page: Ginkgo leaves.

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MillionTreesNYC and Ginkgo

Brooklynpix on blog Daily photo of Brooklyn, New York, writes:
"C'mon, little ginkgo. The tree’s trunk is as thick as a finger and it’s ten feet from a playground. NYC is trying to plant a million trees before 2017. We are rooting for this one in particular."

To make sure that trees succeed this time around, the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation asked the private landscaping companies under contract to plant for MillionTreesNYC to provide maintenance and care — including one inch of water per week, pruning and cultivation — for two years, the most critical time in a tree’s early life. But the new trees’ survival is ultimately in the hands of local caretakers: residents, business owners and anyone else with an interest in the trees’ welfare.
Read more here.

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Ginkgo art: wishes by Mei-Kuei Feu

This video shows Mei-Kuei Feu and her "Ambulant Bonsai" performance in Zhuwei and Tapei, Taiwan.




Embodying a mobile and upside-down Ginkgo bonsai, multidisciplinary artist Mei-Kuei Feu presented her public art project for the first time in various neighborhoods of New York City in 2008.
Fascinated by its beauty and its amazing history, the artist works with the Ginkgo’s fan shaped leaves as a medium for conveying printed images which reflect tragedies of the last century and the passion of present day life. Through a process of exchange, the public are invited to write their wishes for life on a photo shaped like a Ginkgo leaf, and in return, receive a real Ginkgo leaf stamped with "Ginkgo messenger".
The Ginkgo Messenger project is born from a series of research work on a dialogue between humans and house plants. Linking the internal environment of our body and the external natural environment, the artist wishes to create a garden that is both intimate and public.

More info and photos on my website.

Click picture to enlarge.

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Updates of my website The Ginkgo Pages

* Added on my Fossils-page: video about the history of ginkgo.
*New topic: A Modern Insect Pollinator from the Dinosaurs Time.

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