GINKGO BILOBA L. (GINKGOACEAE) AT PETER THE GREAT BOTANIC GARDEN OF BIN RAS

Abstract

Ginkgo biloba L. has been known at Peter the Great Botanic Garden of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (Saint-Petersburg, Russia) since 1816. In modern collection it is represented since 1947, in vegetative state. In these conditions, it forms a well-developed tree with a single trunk and a well-developed crown; the best specimens have reached a height of 15.5 m at the age of 74 years old. Compared to previously published data, its size has increased significantly. The dates of phenostages of its seasonal rhythm of development correspond to the local Calendar of Nature; it is not damaged by spring and autumn frosts. The maximum percentage of rooting from cuttings was 88,5 %.The species may be recommended for Saint-Petersburg’s city planting. Earlier there was an opinion that Leningrad (Saint-Petersburg, not Kharkov) is the northern border of Ginkgo cultivation in living form of a tree (Komarova, Zamjatnin, 1990), but nowadays, in the second decade of the XXI century, its distribution may be prolonged further up to the North.