During the autumn season, Seoul, South Korea is a beautiful, magical place. Trees paint the city with vibrant colors of red, orange, and yellow. In San Francisco, CA, very few non-native trees change color. Therefore, the fall foliage is a spectacular experience for me.
Most notably, the gingko tree is abundant in Seoul and its leaves turn entirely yellow. The tree is found in fossils dating back 270 million years! The city of Seoul has over 144,000 gingko trees. When the leaves fall to the ground, it looks like a real yellow brick road! There is one road in particular that is 2km ginkgo tree-lined road.
The ginkgo leaf is fan-shaped and is 2-3" in length and width. During the spring and summer seasons, the leaves are green. They can grow as tall as 20–35m. How much is this in feet?
Ginko trees are resilient to wind, snow, insects, and disease, giving them a long lifespan. In fact, some species of ginkgo trees are possibly over 2,500 years old!
The ginkgo tree drops seeds that Koreans use to roast and consume. While the roasted seeds are delicious, the smell of the seeds are not. How horrible do you think the smell is? Considering that Seoul has over 144,000 gingko trees, the smell of the seeds multiply together to create one really intense smell!
