ginkgo
noun
called also maidenhair tree
Did you know?
There is only one living representative of the gymnosperm order Ginkgoales, and that is the tree Ginkgo biloba. Native to China, the ginkgo has existed for some 250 million years and is often termed a living fossil. It has long been planted in Chinese and Japanese temple gardens, and is valued in many parts of the world as an attractive, fungus- and insect-resistant ornamental tree. It tolerates cold weather and can survive the adverse atmospheric conditions of urban areas. The light-colored wood, is soft and weak and has little economic value. The leaves are fan-shaped and leathery. The silvery nut, when roasted, is considered a delicacy. Studies have suggested that ginkgo supplements can enhance memory function in the elderly and delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
Example Sentences
Howard Garrett, Dallas News, 13 Sep. 2021 My young ginkgo tree has suddenly developed brown dry outer edges on all its leaves. oregonlive, 18 June 2022 Renata Poulton Kamakura, center, a Ph.D. student at Duke University, who also works with the Nature Conservancy, stands under a ginkgo tree and leads a tree health monitoring training outing on June 1, 2022, in McKinley Park. Morgan Greene And Joe Mahr, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2022 Distinctive elements: Carving of home’s builder, Bennett Henderson Young, on front of house; large ginkgo tree in front yard; magnolias, hydrangeas, lilies, clematis, hostas, and more in the lush English-style garden back yard. Applause! Lennie Omalza, The Courier-Journal, 2 June 2022 Brian Cody Prosser is interred near a row of ginkgo trees not far from a memorial dedicated to those who perished in the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. Thomas Curwen Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Dec. 2021 There’s always room somewhere for a redbud or a sweetbay magnolia or possibly a ginkgo. Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2021 Some resemble ginkgo leaves, others the oblong flensing spades used by 19th-century whalers. J. B. Mackinnon, The Atlantic, 30 Mar. 2021 Tucked in a grove of ginkgo trees, a glass cube at Logan International Airport pays tribute to those lost aboard the two jetliners that took off from Boston and were hijacked by terrorists who flew them into the World Trade Center towers. BostonGlobe.com, 9 Sep. 2021 See More Word History
New Latin Ginkgo, from Japanese ginkyō
1773, in the meaning defined at sense 1