Acrogymnospermae Ginkgoopsida / Ginkgooidae / Ginkgoales Ginkgoaceae / Ginkgo / Ginkgo biloba
GINKGOACEAE |
ginkgo family
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Contains a single genus
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GINKGO |
ginkgo genus
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Contains a single species
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Ginkgo biloba
ginkgo
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Ginkgo biloba 'Mariken'dwarf ginkgo
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Greenwich Village Upland
Morton - Christopher
Memorial Square Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera Christopher - Charles W12th - Horatio Horatio - Gansevoort Gansevoort Peninsula galleries |
Pier 55 Little Island
Southeast
quadrant Reportedly cultivated from a witches broom found on a species tree.
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Kingdom Plantae
Subkingdom Viridiplantae Infrakingdom Streptophyta Superdivision Embryophyta Division Tracheophyta Subdivision Spermatophytina clade (Acro)gymnospermae Class Ginkgoopsida Subclass Ginkgooidae Order Ginkgoales Family Ginkgoaceae - ginkgo family Genus Ginkgo - ginkgo |
plants
green plants land plants vascular plants seed plants |
Ginkgo biloba
L. – ginkgo
maidenhair tree 銀杏 (ichoo, Japanese) (ginnan, Japanese) = "silver apricot" 银杏 (yínxìng, Chinese) = "silver apricot" |
Native to China
Native habitat: Unclear due to long history of cultivation in China and Japan Once native throughout Northern Hemisphere, extinct during Pleistocene Ice Age, survived in southern China and Southeast Asia Living fossil, related to similar trees of Permian Period (270 mya), before dinosaurs appeared Life span: 1000 years |
What may be found on ginkgo trunks
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Caution: Ginkgo leaves and the fleshy outer layer of the seeds (sarcotesta) contain chemicals related to the urushiol found in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac that can cause an allergic reaction resulting in a skin rash. Take precautions when handling the "fruit" of the ginkgo.
Toxic Parts:
Fleshy, outer pulp of the seeds, and raw seed kernel Toxin Delivery Mode: Ingestion, skin contact Symptoms: Irritation of the skin following contact with juice of the seed pulp; irritation of lips, mouth, and throat and stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea after eating pulp |
Edibility:
EDIBLE PARTS: The seed, freed of the outer pulp and washed, is boiled or roasted and eaten in the Orient and also available in Asian food stores |
Toxic Principles:
An alkyl phenol and ginkgolic acid Severity: TOXIC ONLY IF LARGE QUANTITIES EATEN. SKIN IRRITATION MINOR OR LASTING ONLY FOR A FEW MINUTES |
Tree / Buds / Bark
Tree
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Foliage
Leaves
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"Flowers"
"Fruit"
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Reproduction
The ginkgo is dioecious, meaning that the male sexual apparatus and the female are located on separate trees. Pollination occurs when pollen produced by the male structure on one tree is carried by the wind to the female structure on a second in the spring. A mature ovule exudes a droplet of fluid that captures a pollen grain that is drawn into a pollen chamber as the droplet repeatedly retracts. The pollen grain produces a sealed pollen tube containing two sperm that mature through the summer, while in a fluid-containing chamber two eggs develop, only one of which reaches full maturity usually. Come fall after the ovule has fallen from the tree, fertilization occurs when the pollen tube ruptures releasing two sperm each possessing 1000 flagella that allow them to swim through the fluid to the mature egg. One sperm fuses with the nucleus to form an embryo and the other fuses with a different part to become the endosperm, the part of a seed that serves as a food source for the developing embryo.