Gingko

ALAIN DESVIGNE

Gingko biloba

This leaf from a tree in the East,
Has been given to my garden.
It reveals a certain secret, 
Which uplifts me and thoughtful people.

Does it represent One living creation
Which has divided itself? 
Or as these Two; which have decided, 
That they should be as One?

To reply to such a Question,
I found the right answer: 
Do you notice in my songs and verses
That I am One and Two ?

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Endangered species

The Ginkgo is listed in the IUCN Red list of Endangered Plants

Hiroshima: a bombed Ginkgo

At the end of World War II on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the Americans. The plants and trees in the area around the epicenter were examined in September 1945.

The Ginkgo situated near a temple about 1.1 kilometers from the blast center appeared to bud after the blast without any major deformations (the temple itself was destroyed). Six atomic bombed Ginkgo trees are still alive.

Therefore, it is regarded as the “bearer of hope.”