Jurassic Park
A real Jurassic Park exists in Southern California, one where you can see living remnants of the Jurassic period. It is the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia.
It qualifies as a true Jurassic Park because of the spectacular Gingko biloba trees that inhabit it. Dating back 170 million years to the middle Jurassic period, the Gingko is one of the world’s oldest and most amazing trees.
It was one of the first trees to be cultivated. Though it has existed throughout all human history, it continues to fascinate us for its beauty – for sure – but also for the astounding things we continue to discover about it.
GigaScience reports a team of Chinese scientists found that with some 41,840 predicted genes, the gingko is known to have a considerable number of antibacterial and chemical defense mechanisms, making it highly resistant to disease and infestation.
They are so hearty that six trees growing within 2 kilometers of the atomic blast at Hiroshima were among a few living organisms to survive it. Some gingkos are known to have lived over a thousand years.
BBC News tells us that the Gingko has a genome numbering 10.6 billion DNA nucleobase letters. In comparison, the human genome has but three billion. While gingkos have been used in Chinese medicine since at least the 11th century, few gingko-related remedies have been authenticated by Western medicine, the U.S. National Institutes of Health state.
Of course, what attracts us is not its science, but its beauty. Gingko leaves have long been symbols of artistic perfection, and Frank McDonough’s images of peaking gingkos support that premise.
- LA County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia (482′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
Hi John.
You have a lovely website and blog with a lot of information on where to enjoy Fall color in California. Kudos to you and your volunteer contributors.
However, as a third generation Californian now relocated to New England, I have to say that unless you spend a Fall in Vermont with miles of mountains covered with dense stands of sugar maples ablaze with color top to bottom, then actually stood under a sugar maple and watched your body change coior to match the color of the leaves, you haven’t truly experienced Fall color.
Barb,
I was stationed in Rhode Island while in the Navy and got to see the fall color there, also when stationed in D.C. You are correct, New England has lovely fall color. I hope too, that you have the opportunity to see California at peak. Here’s one glimpse: http://www.californiafallcolor.com/2016/10/02/need-we-say-more/