Maidenhair Tree - Ginkgo biloba

Tree to 40m tall. Bark grey, furrowed, corky. Leaves characteristically fan-shaped, up to 12cm across, divided into two lobes, bright yellow in autumn, spirally arranged along long shoots. Each tree has either male or female flowers (dioecious): male flowers catkin-like, hanging down (pendulous) and yellow, up to 8cm long; female flowers smaller and on pedicels up to 4cm long. Fruits maturing following autumn, drupe-like, light yellow decaying to purplish-black.

Usually as a planted tree in parks and gardens.

Flowers in spring.

Deciduous tree.

Infrequently recorded in Britain – almost always as a planted tree.

Rare or rarely recorded in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire.