Maidenhair tree  (Ginkgo biloba)

The attractive maidenhair tree has been widely planted as an ornamental, and cultivated individuals exist across the world (3). Trees were traditionally planted in temple gardens in Japan and China, but today are popular in towns worldwide and are even farmed in plantations for their medicinal properties (3). The survival of wild trees however is less secure; examples can be found in China on Mount Xitianmu in the Zhejiang Province, but it is unclear whether these are the last truly wild trees or descendents from temple gardens (3).

The maidenhair tree is most suited to moist, deep, sandy soils in full sunlight but is extremely adaptable to a range of stressful conditions. Indeed, it was the first tree in the vicinity of Hiroshima to bud after the atomic bomb of 1945 (3).