Remarkably, this ‘living fossil’ thrived 170 million years ago in the Jurassic, alongside dinosaurs. It is also a ‘Lazarus taxon’, known from fossils then found still living. Commonly called Ginkgo, the first specimen reached Britain in 1758.

Now rare in its native China, it reached Japan and then European botanic gardens in the eighteenth century, causing a sensation. Thought to have survived glacial maxima in east and central China, where records date to 1256, it is now widely planted worldwide and conserved in China.

Trees are dioecious, with separate sexes. Male catkins are rare in Britain and Ireland, perhaps fortunately given the highly allergenic pollen. Fertilisation uses motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns and mosses. Plum-like fruits ripen yellow but smell rancid. It also reproduces vegetatively via aerial roots, lignotubers and suckers.

Reaches 35m, with heavy, haphazard growth on short spurs, often leaning and multi-stemmed; bark pale brown. The unique fan-shaped leaves, resembling maidenhair fern, make it easy to identify, turning golden before falling quickly in autumn. Leafless, it resembles Common Pear but has darker bark and is smaller.

Slightly frost-sensitive but usually recovers. Light-demanding, it needs space and thrives in warm, sunny, well-drained sites with moderate rainfall, tolerating rocky ground and urban pollution. Famously, six trees regenerated after the Hiroshima atomic bomb. Long-lived, often exceeding 1,000 years in China. Wear gloves when handling the irritant fruit pulp.

Grows among mixed broadleaves and conifers in its native range, including alongside a Chinese variant of Japanese Red Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica var. sinensis), where mammals and birds disperse its seeds.

Generally disease-free. Stem rot and leaf blight can occur in nurseries.

Leaf extracts (terpene lactones and flavonoid glycosides) are used in herbal medicine, reportedly improving circulation, cognition and memory. The toxic seeds are edible only when well cooked, in small amounts; called bai guo in China and ginnan in Japan, they are a popular snack. The fine-grained, fire-resistant timber suits furniture and carving.