Ancient tree with strong smell wins Tree of the Year

When the Geelong Ginkgo tree was planted, the Melbourne Cup had not yet been run, Ned Kelly was still a child, and thousands of prospectors were flocking down under to make it rich in the goldfields.

Legend has it the seed was delivered by a ship's captain who stopped in the port city in 1859.

The Geelong Ginkgo was planted that year and, 167 years later, has been named the National Trust’s Victorian Tree of the Year.

"They're a real botanical oddity, I guess you could call them a living fossil," said National Trust Victoria's executive manager of gardens and landscapes, Justin Buckley.

At 20 metres tall, the Geelong Ginkgo is the largest of its kind in Victoria, and possibly the largest in Australia.

Also known as Maidenhair trees, gingko bilobas are descendants of some of the oldest trees on earth.

"The one in Geelong is really special," Mr Buckley told ABC Radio Melboure. "It's got these amazing growths developing out of the trunk and the branches which sort of look like stalactites...and normally you don't see them except on trees that are much, much older."

From another time

The species belongs to an order of plants that thrived during the Middle Jurassic period (174 to 161 million years ago) when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.  

They were once thought to be extinct in the wild but small populations survived in China and thousand-year-old examples can also be found at temples in Japan and Korea.

Ginkgo biloba trees also survived the August 6, 1945, atomic bombing of Hiroshima and became symbols of resilience.

"The Ginkgo biloba is one of Geelong's most cherished landmarks," said City of Greater Geelong Councillor Elise Wilkinson.

"It has provided a stunning backdrop for countless wedding photographs and special celebrations".

Brilliant in autumn, the Geelong Ginkgo is a female tree and produces fruit with a distinct, strong smell.

Not everyone is a fan. 

"I've never found them to be particularly objectionable myself, but some people really dislike the smell,"

Mr Buckley said.

Running rings around its competitors

The National Trust's Victorian arm has kept a register of significant trees for 44 years. 

Each year judges shortlist finalists that the public can vote for.

There were eight other finalists this year.

Between September and October, the Geelong Ginkgo received 27 per cent of the 4,435 votes cast to best the Smooth Bark Apple Myrtle in Prahran and a myrtle beech at Maits Rest near Apollo Bay.

The register was created because the trust wanted trees to be protected in the same way historic buildings are.

The trust wants automatic statutory protection for trees on the National Trust Significant Tree Register and other local government registers.

"We want to see our special trees protected. We want to see more trees planted so that there's special trees for other people in the future," Mr Buckley said.