Cold hardiness

Heat tolerance

Where this plant fits

Suitable across 40 ecoregions — 35 climate-resilient through 2070 · 5 suited today. Best matches first.

What it needs

Lifecycle

Pollination

Ginkgo is a wind-pollinated gymnosperm with separate male and female (dioecious) trees — it has no true flowers or nectar and does not feed bees or butterflies. Male trees shed pollen to wind-pollinate ovules on female trees; landscape plantings use male clones to avoid the foul-smelling fleshy seed coats. The "Bloom Time April / Bloom Description Green / Flower Insignificant" entries in Missouri Botanical Garden refer to the inconspicuous reproductive structures, not insect-pollinated flowers.

For people

The seed kernel ("ginkgo nut") is eaten in East Asian cuisine after the fleshy outer coat is removed and the kernel is cooked (boiled or roasted), per NC State Extension. The fleshy seed coat is an irritant and foul-smelling, and raw or large quantities of the kernels contain ginkgotoxin (MPN) that can be harmful, especially to children — so this is a prepared, limited-quantity food, not a casually edible fruit.

Climate notes

In the designer

Seasonal interest

Botanical research database

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