ginkgo Ginkgo biloba, the sole survivor of a group of primitive trees. Such trees grew all around the world in the very distant past; the ‘petrified ginkgo forest’ near Ellenberg in the state of Washington is estimated to be 15 million years old. This single species was saved by cultivation in N. China and has been reintroduced to Europe and Asia as a garden tree. (western plant nurseries usually sell only the non-fruiting male ginkgo plants, because of the highly disagreeable smell from the fallen fruits of the females.)
