A single Ginkgo biloba tree might drop its distinct fan-shaped leaves every year for centuries, if not millennia. For perspective, one that’s about 1,300 years old — nearing the upper limits of documented ginkgo lifespan — first sprouted when the Byzantine empire was still young.
And as ginkgo age, they don’t just survive — they thrive. Though 600-year-old ginkgos grow thinner annual rings, they're likely to pump out just as much defensive and immune-supporting chemicals as their younger relatives, according to new research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
