Oldest ginkgo tree in Germany

How old is the oldest ginkgo tree in Germany?

In Germany, several ginkgo trees claim to be the oldest. The title cannot be awarded that easily because the dates for planting are uncertain. However, these two specimens have a good chance:

• Ginkgo in Rödelheim: probably planted around 1750, today has the status of a natural monument
• Ginkgo in the Harbke Castle Park: probably planted around 1758, the Castle Park is part of the "Garden Dreams of Saxony-Anhalt" due to other rare trees

Other specimens, for example in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, in the Botanical Gardens in Jena and in Weimar, were found at the end of the 18th century. / beginning of the 19th century century planted. The Weimar specimen is also known as the "Goethe Ginkgo".

Where are the oldest ginkgo trees in Europe?

The ginkgo tree came to Europe around 1730, after European travelers had "discovered" the species in Japan shortly before. The oldest European specimens are in Utrecht in the Netherlands (probably around 1730) and in the Royal Botanic Gardens in England (probably around 1754). There are also specimens in other European countries such as Italy, Slovakia and Belgium that are said to have been planted between 1750 and 1780. Here, too, the years should be treated with caution, as they cannot be verified correctly.

How old is the world's oldest ginkgo?

Ginkgo trees can live for more than 1000 years oldest copies are all found in China. In the western Chinese province of Guizhou, there is said to be a male individual who is said to have reached the proud age of around 4500 years. Numerous other specimens in China, South Korea and Japan are up to 1300 years old and are mainly found in Buddhist temples - Ginkgo biloba is traditionally a temple tree in East Asia. Whether there are still natural populations of the species is disputed.

Why is the ginkgo also called a “living fossil”?

The famous naturalist Charles Darwin already described the ginkgo as a "living fossil". In fact, Ginkgo biloba is the oldest living tree species in the world. Ginkgo trees existed as early as 290 million years ago, with a great diversity of species between the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. According to the current status, about 17 different genera have been identified, which, with one exception, became extinct in the middle Cretaceous period. Ginkgo biloba represents a kind of link between coniferous and deciduous trees and has characteristics of both groups.