Ginkgo Biloba Maidenhair Tree
This tree, presented to Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council by Green Legacy Hiroshima on 20th October 2022 is a descendant of a Ginkgo biloba Maidenhair tree that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6th August 1945
The Green Legacy Hiroshima has been established to safeguard and spread the seeds and saplings of Hiroshima’s atomic bomb survivor trees – and their message of peace and hopes for a nuclear-free world
This unique gift is a tree from the people of Hiroshima to bring both the Mayor and the people of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council many decades of enjoyment.
The tree is a Ginkgo biloba sapling. It was raised from a seed collected in the Shukkeien Garden of Hiroshima, Japan, by GLH volunteers. Its parent tree is more than 200 years old and was 1,370m away from the centre of the blast on the 6th of August 1945. You can find further details about your sapling’s parent tree on the GLH website Green Legacy Hiroshima in their Trees in Hiroshima Section. It is tree number 25, Collection ID number E13a 25-01. A copy of the certificate link …….
This tree was planted at Billy Neill MBE Country Park on 30th November 2022 by HM Lord-Lieutenant for County Down (Mr Gawn Rowan Hamilton) and the Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council (Councillor Scott Carson).
In summer and autumn this tree bears unusual fan-shaped leaves, which are unlike the leaves found on any other species of tree. It is a deciduous tree, meaning it drops its leaves during the autumn. The leaves turn a bright yellow before falling to the ground.
Individual trees can live a very long time, perhaps up to 3,500 years old. They can also grow up to 50 metres tall – that’s equivalent to eight two-storey houses stacked one on top of the other!
Ginkgo is able to resist attacks from insects which may otherwise try to eat it, and it is also very resistant to diseases. These help to explain why it is such a long-lived tree.
It has been in existence since before the time of the dinosaurs, so is a very ancient species that is often called a ‘living fossil’. Actual fossils of Ginkgo have been found in Canada, England and Scotland, but today it is a very rare tree found growing along the sides of rivers in the mountains of China.