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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

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Friday - June 19, 2009

From: New York, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Non-native Ginkgo biloba in New York
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

A female Ginkgo tree dropped its seeds. Now, I have seedlings all over the yard. I don't want more female Ginkgo trees. They create putrid Ginkgo seeds. However, I would like more male Ginkgo trees. How can I tell if the seedlings are male or female? Thank you for your answer.

ANSWER:

What you have is a living fossil, one of the oldest trees still surviving to the present day. However, it is native to Asia, and therefore out of our range of expertise. At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center we are dedicated to the care and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which the plant is being grown. Here is an article from the wip.net, "South Asia's Oldest Tree Species, Ginkgo biloba, Clings to Life in Indian-administered Kashmir" by Afsaana Rashid that might give you some clues to your problem.
 

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