But the species is much older. In the past 100 million years though, the number and species of the ginkgo have declined. The ginkgo, also known as the maidenhair, is grown in a number of countries, but the U.S. imports their ginkgoes from China. The ginkgo is able to withstand severe conditions, it can survive in temperatures as cold as -40 degrees. It can even survive on city streets.
Some female ginkgoes bear blue-green colored fruit, which turn yellow when ripe.
When the ginkgo's fruit rots it has a very awful smell. When the ginkoes are about 20 years old they will begin to reproduce. The ginkgo is a religious tree to Japan and China. Without the preservation of the ginkgo in sacred temples, they would have died out all together. The first ginkgo was planted in the Utrecht Botanical Garden in Holland by Kaempfer around 1730.