Common Name: Ginkgo
Scientific Name: Ginkgo biloba
Family: Ginkgoaceae
Origin: Southeast Asia
Growing to heights of 50-80 feet, this tree is the last living member of an ancient order of trees that inhabited the Earth an estimated 150 million years ago. The leaves of the ginkgo tree have attractive fan shaped leaves resembling those of the maidenhair fern, a common house plant. Ginkgos are dioecious, producing male and female cones on separate trees. The female trees produce seeds with a fleshy cone that smells like rotten butter, due to the butyric acid released when ripen. The ginkgo has been used medicinally throughout history and is even sold in stores today as supplements.