Goethe: The Story of A Man , Volume II, Farrar, Straus & Company, NY, 1949, pp. 160-161 [Stanford: PT2027L4L4.v.2]) a handful of ginkgo leaves The Ginkgo ( Ginkgo biloba ) is also known as the Maidenhair Tree. Fossil records have dated the ginkgo back to the Pliocene era (5.3-1.8 million years