The fan-shaped leaves clustered on short shoots (also called spurs) are a reliable identification characteristic. As is the upright oval to upright spreading growth habit, with light gray furrowed bark. In addition, ginkgo is not native, and is not known to widely escape cultivation, meaning it is almost exclusively found in managed landscapes. Ginkgos are very tolerant of stressful conditions, and therefore well suited for urban environments. Commonly used as a street tree and in urban parks and gardens.

Ginkgo is considered a "living fossil" because it closely resembles fossils that are millions of years old. Although Ginkgo biloba and other species of the genus were once found across the globe, its range severely contracted, until by two million years ago, it was restricted to just a small area of China. Today, ginkgo is the only surviving tree in the entire order of Ginkgoales: with the order, family, genus, and species all referring to a single species. Once thought to be extinct in the wild, it was rediscovered in 1691 and was brought to the United States in the late 1700s.