my favorite tree, the ginkgo. especially beautiful in autumn

—

Mikiko Noji (Japan, b.1978-)

At the Bottom of the Tree, 2023

ink and color on paper

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“and all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees and changing leaves…”

-virginia woolf, to the lighthouse

 

Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, and also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta. It is found in fossils dating back 270-million years. Native to China, the ginkgo tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history. Ginkgo trees have beautiful green leaves that turn a luminous gold-yellow in fall. And on one day, after the hard frost, the ginkgo drops its leaves to the ground leaving a gorgeous carpet of color below.