The Ginkgo biloba tree of today looks just like the numerous examples of fossil ginkgoes found throughout the rock record. Thus, it is called a living fossil. It is famous because evolutionists have tied it to the deep time paradigm. They say such things as the “Ginkgo biloba is the oldest tree species on planet earth” and “because of its great age in the unimaginable spectrum of geologic time, ginkgo epitomizes persistence—fighting the odds and surviving.”*
In fact, this same self-described ginkgo fanatic termed one of his experiences with an old-growth woodland of ginkgoes in a religious confession as follows: “I stood transfixed for many minutes. It was overpowering to approach these wise ones after so many years of waiting for and dreaming of this meeting. It was humbling to be able to touch these oldest ancestors of the ancient clan of trees. There I was, only one of billions of humans and other living creatures who had gone before me, a mere blink in the spectrum of time, standing before three huge trees whose ancestors had communed with dinosaurs in the pure, oxygen-rich atmosphere of a prehistoric planet. There I was, in the presence of the oldest of the old. There are some feelings that words can never describe. I was in that indescribable space of complete silence and stillness where the spirit feels at one with the momentum of the universe.”**
This writer also wrote, “Ginkgo biloba is a truly amazing plant that, to me, represents all that ever was and gives us hope for all that ever will be.”**
Another secular expert wrote this: “That ginkgo has survived essentially unchanged for as much as 200 million years is a miracle: virtually all other kinds of plants and animals that occurred with it more than 150 million years ago have become extinct.”***
Of course these quotes are the result of secular presuppositions of evolution and millions of years. They are not supported by true science or historical records. The fossil evidence actually makes more sense if explained using biblical creationist presuppositions of an initial created order modified by a catastrophic global Flood some 4,500 years ago. From a realistic human perspective 4,500 years is a very long time, probably over 100 generations! It is also likely that the ancestors of the current batches of old ginkgo trees were planted as a result of the actions of that most unique catastrophe.
Ginkgo biloba fossil and current tree leaves are the same
Twenty-year-old Ginkgo biloba tree in the Mitchells’ backyard
Close-up photo of Ginkgo biloba leaves
Today the most common connection for the general public to the ginkgo is through the use of its leaves and nuts for medicinal uses. It is touted for improvement of memory as well as for treatment of allergies, depression, poor circulation and other conditions. As with many homeopathic herbs these abilities of the plant are sometimes disputed, but there is documented evidence of its use for these purposes for over 1,000 years.
Ginkgo leaf powder for medicine pills
Ginkgoes are noted to be very hardy and are easy to grow in a large variation of soil, temperature and water conditions. They are tolerant of drought, heat and pollution. They are also resistant to browsing by deer. They can grow to be quite large. Some trees have grown to be up to 100 feet tall. Older trees are found especially in China, and the oldest tree planted in the United States can be found in Philadelphia and was planted in 1784. Some experts say that the ginkgoes are unique in that they normally lose all their leaves in one day in autumn. I have noticed that our tree takes several days to lose all its leaves but does so much quicker than the cherry, hawthorn, maple and other deciduous trees in our neighborhood.
Large ginkgo with leaves about to fall
“Cut down a ginkgo and the trunk looks exactly like that of a normal tree, only a specialist would be able to distinguish the wood from that of a pine or a cedar. Around the outside in narrow band is the bark, and immediately inside is a zone of softer tissues; the rest of the trunk is make up of wood.”****
Ginkgo petrified wood sectioned and polished from Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park in Vantage, WA
Ginkgo tree trunk and bark
Typical Ginkgo seeds
Peter Crane has written a 400-page secular book (Ginkgo-The Tree That Time Forgot) with loads of details about everything one would want to know about the ginkgo. However, I like the short article by Jerry Bergman, “Ginkgo-Remarkable ‘Living Fossil’” in Creation Magazine, Vol. 44, No. 2, 2022, and pages 12-14.
The biggest difference between the creationist and evolutionist views of the ginkgoes is that the biblical creationist knows where the tree initially came from. Evolutionists have no answer to that simple question.
Glory be to the Creator of the amazing ginkgo tree!
J.D. Mitchell
*Brown, Stephan, Ginkgo Biloba, A Storey Country Wisdom Bulletin, 2000, p. 2.
**ibid, Brown, p. 5, 3.
***Crane, Peter, Ginkgo-The Tree That Time Forgot, Yale University Press, 2013, p. xiv.
****ibid, Crane, p. 47.
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