At the opening of the valley one of the first trees we see is the Ginkgo biloba, a distant relative of the conifers. Only 200 million-old fossilized remains of these trees were known until the late XVIII century, when living plants were found in China. The discovery of these “living fossils” caused such excitement that the great poet Goethe dedicated a poem to them:
Ginkgo biloba
This leaf from a tree in the East,
Has been given to my garden.
It reveals a certain secret,
Which pleases me and thoughtful people.
Does it represent One living creature
Which has divided itself?
Or are these Two, which have decided,
That they should be as One?
To reply to such a Question,
I found the right answer:
Do you notice in my songs and verses
That I am One and Two?
