Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

Ginkgo biloba
Ginkgo

Locations in Hudson River Park:
Morton Street to Christopher Street
Christopher Street to Charles Street
West 12th Street to Gansevoort Street

Kingdom  Plantae – Plants
    Subkingdom  Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
        Superdivision  Spermatophyta – Seed plants
            Division  Ginkgophyta – Ginkgo
                Class  Ginkgoopsida
                    Order  Ginkgoales
                        Family  Ginkgoaceae – Ginkgo family
                            Genus  Ginkgo L. – ginkgo
                                Species  Ginkgo biloba L. –
maidenhair tree

Maidenhair Tree

銀杏 (ichoo, Japanese)
(ginnan, Japanese) = "silver apricot"

ginkgo (Chinese) = "silver apricot"
biloba (L) = "two lobes"

Native to China

Native habitat: Unclear due to long history of cultivation in China and Japan

Once native throughout Northern Hemisphere, extinct during Pleistocene Ice Age, survived in China

Living fossil, related to similar trees of Permian Period (270 mya), before dinosaurs appeared

Life span: 1000 years

What I have found on Ginkgo trunks

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker woodpecker feeding holes

Caution: Ginkgo leaves and the fleshy outer layer of the seeds contain chemicals related to the urushiol found in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac that can cause an allergic reaction resulting in a skin rash. Take precautions when handling the "fruit" of the ginkgo.

Toxic Parts:
Fleshy, outer pulp of the seeds, and raw seed kernel
Toxin Delivery Mode:
Ingestion, skin contact
Symptoms:
Irritation of the skin following
contact with juice of the seed pulp; irritation of lips, mouth, and throat and stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea after eating pulp

Edibility:
EDIBLE PARTS:
The seed, freed of the outer pulp and washed, is boiled or roasted and eaten in the Orient and also available in Asian food stores

Toxic Principles:
An alkyl phenol and ginkgolic acid
Severity:
TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN. SKIN IRRITATION MINOR OR LASTING ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES