Among the horticultural treasures of Eureka Springs, two trees loom large – the female ginkgos flanking the service entrance at the back of the Post Office. In China, ginkgo trees as fine as these specimens are objects of veneration and reverence. Soon, after the first good hard frost, the unique fan-shaped golden leaves will flitter from the trees in a day’s time like a kaleidoscope of butterflies seeking winter rest. Soon after, the shriveling fruits, which look like half-sized wild persimmons, will persist for a few days after the leaves, then fall to the ground.
There is only one surviving species from the ancient and primitive ginkgo family (Ginkgoaceae). Various species of ginkgo were common in the northern hemisphere, evolving nearly 200 million years ago. Most ginkgo species were victims of the mass extinction, along with dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago. A few species in the Ginkgo family known from the fossil record survived until wiped out in Europe and North America (including Greenland and Alaska) during the Quaternary glacial ice sheets around two million years ago. Only one species survived – today’s living fossil Ginkgo biloba, the oldest tree species on Earth. The only wild population that survived that massive ice age event is in the West Tian Mu Mountains in Zhejiang Province in China.
For thousands of years, once they reached their destination, Chinese monks and travelers planted the tree from walking sticks made from live ginkgo branches. Today venerable and near immortal ginkgos, some thousands of years old, are extant at temples and sacred sites. Hanging from mountain crags, these sentinels of millennia soar to over 150 feet. Ancient ginkgos known to be more than 3000 years old, inspire awe with trunks spreading more than 15 feet in diameter, and a breadth of over 5000 square feet beneath the branches of a single tree.
Ginkgo was first introduced to North America in 1784 in the garden of William Hamilton at Woodlands near Philadelphia. Male trees, free from the foul-smelling fruits, are a favorite street tree in cities. Ginkgos longevity is attributed to its exceptional resistance to pests, resilience to fire, and tolerance of air pollution thriving in the harshest urban environments.
Famously, less than a half mile away from ground zero of the 1945 nuclear blast at Hiroshima, a ginkgo trunk produced new leaves, symbolizing the strength of life. Nearing a century in age, the important specimen trees in Eureka Springs symbolize continuity and resilience in an unpredictable world.