The Secret of Ginkgo Trees
I went to a temple on Jiri Mountain in Korea.
There were two giant ginkgo trees next to the temple.
They were absolutely beautiful, with the golden leaves rhythmically falling around the trees.
I started strolling around the trees to fully soak in their beauty.
A monk came over.
Monk: Isn't it beautiful?
Soom: Totally.
Monk: Do you know there are female and male ginkgo?
Soom: Really? I had no idea ginkgo trees have genders.
Monk: Here, look. The one on the right is female. The one on the left is male.
Soom: How can you tell?
Monk: The female one is rounder at the bottom. The male one is taller and straight.
You know, they are always found together at a close distance.
The female trees have seeds but cannot fertilize them without the male trees' pollen.
The male trees have pollen, but it will go to waste without the seeds from the female trees.
The tricky part is that we cannot tell whether the tree is male or female until it turns around 20 years old.
I used to see trees as static objects.
It was quite unexpected and interesting to learn about their human-like traits.