Ginkgo
Ginkgo biloba:-
Classification:-
Division - Coniferophyta
Class - Coniferopsida
Order - Ginkgoales
Family - Ginkgoaceae
Genus - Ginkgo
Species - biloba
Distribution of Ginkgo:-
> Ginkgo biloba is a tall, slender and beautiful tree.
> It is commonly called Maiden-hair Tree because its new leaves resemble very much like those of Adiantum (called maiden hair fern) both in form and venation.
> It is the oldest living seed plant.
> It is cultivated for its edible seeds in some parts of China and Japan.
> Ginkgo still exists in the wild state in South-eastern China, along “the north western border of Chekiang and south eastern Anhwei”.
> In China and Japan it is grown as a sacred tree in temple gardens.
> It is cultivated in the United States as a shade tree.
> t is also successfully cultivated in some gardens of Europe, America and India.
Ginkgo: A Living Fossil:-
> Ginkgo is known to have occurred in rocks as old as Triassic or even much earlier.
> Fossils of its leaves have been identified in the Permian and probably also in the Carboniferous. Ginkgo biloba occurs even today. It is, therefore, referred as living fossil by the botanists. Or, it may also be referred as the oldest living seed plant.
> The plant body of Ginkgo biloba is sporophytic, and the sporophyte resembles several conifers in
general habit.