When I was at the Old Court House Museum this week taking pictures of the dogwood trees, I noticed a huge old Ginkgo Tree, also known as a "Maidenhair Tree." It's almost time for their leaves to start turning, and they are truly a sight to behold.
The Ginkgo is the world's oldest living species of tree and can live a long time, some up to a thousand years. In general, ginkgo trees will grow from about 80 to 100 feet tall, and here are a couple of large ginkgoes located in the Vicksburg National Military Park. I would love to know how old these trees are ...
I love the ginkgo leaves. They are fan-shaped, and will suddenly turn a pure, dazzling yellow in the fall, remaining for awhile on the tree, then suddenly dropping, virtually all at the same time. I can't wait to try to capture some pictures of the trees in Vicksburg, when they're at their peak. I say, "try," because it's not going to be easy task to catch them before the leaves fall.
This is a close up of some leaves that were turning on the tree at the courthouse (you can click on the pictures to enlarge them, if you'd like).
One of the reasons the tree at the courthouse caught my eye was because of the seed pods under it. They looked like little wrinkled up persimmons, soft and fleshy and "squishy," for lack of a better word, when I stepped on them taking pictures of the tree.
I had never seen the fruit of a ginkgo tree and, after "googling" them, I found out that the female trees produce the fruit-like pods, which are actually the seeds covered by the soft outer skin (the trees in the military park must be "guys," because they didn't have any fruit under them).
I thought it was neat, the way this little pod was perched on the root of the tree.
Of all the pictures I took that day at the courthouse, the next two are my favorites. This is a seed pod that had not fallen yet, and I love the raindrops clinging to it and the leaves around it.
If you would like to see my post featuring pictures I took of the dogwood trees at the courthouse, including close ups of their seed pods, click here: To Everything There is a Season: Dogwood.
I plan to write a follow-up post on the Ginkgos soon, after I get pictures of them when their leaves turn. Hopefully, it won't just be pictures of puddles of golden leaves beneath bare branches. But then, that's going to make some pretty pictures, too!
