Ginkgo
Genus of ancient seed plants with a single surviving species
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Key Takeaways
- Ginkgo is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms.
- The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago , and Ginkgo is now the only living genus within the order.
- The sole surviving species, Ginkgo biloba , is found in the wild only in China, but is cultivated around the world.
- Evolution Fossil history Trichopitys heteromorpha from the earliest Permian period in France is one of the earliest fossils ascribed to the Ginkgophyta.
- Sphenobaiera (early Permian–Cretaceous) had wedge-shaped leaves divided into narrow dichotomously-veined lobes, lacking distinct petioles (leaf stalks).
Ginkgo is a genus of non-flowering seed plants, assigned to the gymnosperms. The scientific name is also used as the English common name. The order to which the genus belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and Ginkgo is now the only living genus within the order. The rate of evolution within the genus has been slow, and almost all its species had become extinct by the end of the Pliocene. The sole surviving species, Ginkgo biloba, is found in the wild only in China, but is cultivated around the world. The relationships between ginkgos and other groups of plants are not fully resolved.
Evolution
Fossil history
Trichopitys heteromorpha from the earliest Permian period in France is one of the earliest fossils ascribed to the Ginkgophyta. It had multiple-forked non-laminar leaves with cylindrical, thread-like ultimate divisions. Sphenobaiera (early Permian–Cretaceous) had wedge-shaped leaves divided into narrow dichotomously-veined lobes, lacking distinct petioles (leaf stalks). Baiera (Triassic–Jurassic) had similar multiple-lobed leaves but with petioles.
The extant ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is a living fossil, with fossils similar to the modern plant dating back to the Permian, 270 million years ago. The ancestor of the genus is estimated to have branched off from other gymnosperms about 325 million years ago, while the last common ancestor of today's only remaining species lived not earlier than 390,000 years ago. The closest living relatives of the clade are the cycads.
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