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Mexican Biodiversity
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally
breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling
on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms
most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.”
Charles Darwin
Home > Species > Concepts > The extended family > Plants > Ginkos and Canutillos > Ginkos
Ginko (Ginkophyta)
What is it?
How are they?
Ginkgo (Division: Ginkophyta) or Gín an is a unique tree on
the planet: it has no living relatives. In China, it is known
as the “silver fruit” or “white fruit”. It Also has the names;
“virgin’s hair”, “tree of forty golden crowns,” and “silver
apricot”. The German scientist Engelbert Kaemper (16511716) discovered it in Japan in 1691.
The ginko is a tree of up to 35 meters in height, with one
or several trunks and deciduous leaves. They are easily
distinguished by their fan-shaped leaves of 5 to 8 cm with
dichotomous venation. It is a dioecious species, i.e. there
are male and female individuals. They can live for more
than 2,500 years.
How Many?
How do they live?
One single species, the Ginkgo
tree (Ginkgo biloba), which is
considered a living fossil as its
only known relatives are from
the Permian period 270 million
years ago.
Male individuals produce pollen in small cones, while
females individuals have ovules in the leaf buds.
It is native to China’s forests at altitudes of up to 1,100
m. The only wild populations are found in the broadleaf
forests of Mount Xitianmu in the Tian Mu Shan Reserve in
the northwest of Zhejiang Province in eastern China. In
ancient times however, it had a wide distribution on the
planet.
The light green leaves turn yellow in autumn before
falling.
Where does it live?
For thousands of years it has been used as an ornamental
tree, and has been widely planted as an urban tree in many
cities such as Amsterdam, Osaka, and Washington D.C., as
it has a strong resistance to pollution and disease: several
ginkgos even survived the atomic bomb of Hiroshima .
However, in many places only male individuals are planted,
since the female produces a very strong rancid butter-like
odor. Despite undergoing nearly 200 years of cultivation
in North America, it has never become naturalized. In
Mexico City there are some Ginkgos in the nurseries of
Parque Viveros, Coyoacan, in the Parque la Bombilla and
in the Bosque de Chapultepec.
In common with the cycads, ferns, mosses and algae,
fertilization is carried out by mobile flagellated sperm
cells. Following wind-pollination, the eggs develop into
yellow-brown seeds of 1.5 to 2 cm which are dispersed by
birds and mammals.
How do we use them?
The therapeutic properties of Ginkgo are known and
used in traditional Chinese medicine. The leaves contain
metabolites known as flavonoids that increase blood
circulation. Recently it has been commercialized worldwide, although some of its supposed properties have
been questioned. In China the seeds are eaten and are
considered to have positive health properties and also
to act as an aphrodisiac. However, it can also become
toxic. Ginkgo is considered a threatened species by the
IUCN. The preference for male trees is putting its genetic
diversity at risk.
URL: http://www.biodiversidad.gob.mx/v_ingles/species/gran_familia/plantas/ginkos/ginko_ingles.html
Contact: [email protected] | México 2009