Ginkgo biloba 50 grams: leaf of the maidenhair tree
The ginkgo is the last species standing of an entire plant group. Every other member of the order Ginkgoales has died out, and fossil leaves of the genus Ginkgo are known from the Middle Jurassic, roughly 170 million years ago. Those fossils look startlingly like the leaf you can pick from the tree today, which is exactly why botanists call the species a living fossil. The leaf gives it away at once: fan-shaped, with veins that fork in two again and again from the base, and usually a notch in the middle that splits the blade into two lobes. That is where the epithet biloba comes from. In autumn the whole tree turns bright yellow before the leaves drop.
The species comes from China and is barely found in the wild any more. That it survived at all owes much to the temple gardens where it was planted for centuries, first in China and later in Japan; some specimens are estimated at over a thousand years old, the oldest known standing at the Gu Guanyin temple in the Zhongnan mountains. Europe met the tree late: the German physician and botanist Engelbert Kaempfer recorded it in Japanese temple gardens in 1690, and in 1784 the first ginkgo was planted in Philadelphia. The English name maidenhair tree comes from the resemblance to the maidenhair fern. In cities the tree has proved remarkably tough, shrugging off exhaust fumes and compacted soil.
What you get and how it is used
This bag holds 50 grams of dried leaf. The usual preparation is an infusion: pour hot water over a teaspoon of leaf, let it steep for a few minutes and strain. The leaf can also be ground and stirred through tea or a smoothie. Store the bag cool, dry and dark and keep it properly closed, and the leaf will hold its colour far longer. Ginkgo leaf is a herb and no substitute for anything else. If you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to your doctor or pharmacist first.
About the herbs at Avalon
At Avalon Magic Plants ginkgo leaf sits with the energy herbs, next to Gotu Kola 50 gram, Yerba Maté 100 gram and Ginseng 20 gram. For the same plant in another form, look at the Ginkgo biloba 1:1 extract in a 10 ml bottle with a dropper, or the Ginkgo biloba extract 10:1 of 3 grams. Every order leaves our warehouse discreetly packed.
