Ginkgo

1. Ginkgo Product Representative: Kara Paboucek Text Research: Matt Scott Image Research: Andy Phillips Technical Support: Nick Price Block 5 4/6/09

2. Scientific Classification • Kingdom- Plantae • Phylum- ginkgophyta • Class- Ginkgoopsida • Order- ginkgoales • Family- ginkgoaceae • Genus- Ginkgo

3. Ginkgo overview • Deciduous gymnosperms which is very rare. • The only surviving species the maidenhair tree, Ginkgo biloba. • Has seeds that aren’t protected by a fruit. • Ginkgo means “silver apricot” in chinese.

5. Biome/ Era • Ginkgo is found under moist and moderately warm climates. • The earliest fossils were found in the Permian period of the Paleozoic era 270 million years ago. • Most diverse during the Jurassic period.

6. Reproduction • They produce pollen and seeds on separate trees. • Separate male and female trees (dioecious) • The difference is determined by X and Y sex chromosomes. This is rare in plants. • Female ovules produce butyric acid • Male trees produce small, fleshy pollen cones; motile sperm are produced.

7. Ginkgo Reproduction • The male strobili are formed from short pendant microsporophylls, each of which has microsporangia. The haploid microspores are retained within the sporangia and the male gametophyte consists of a pollen grain containing multiflagellated sperm. Mature pollen is ultimately released from the diploid sporangia. • The female reproductive structure consists of 2 ovules each of which contain archegonia. Pollen delivers the sperm to the female ovules, but sperm, once released from the pollen grain must swim to the egg contained within the archegonium of the ovule. Ginkgo ovules Ginkgo male strobili

8. Life cycle

9. Fertilization • The fertilization of the seed by free swimming sperm occurs mostly on the tree. • When the ovules are fertilized: develop yellowish plum like seeds. Look like cherry’s • Sporophyte diploid stage is dominant

10. Morphology Trunk: tree can reach 30-40 meters high; 3-4 meters wide; straight; bark is brown and rough; male tree is slim and slightly longer than the female tree; Female tree has wider crown and a more spread out form Branches: Long short branches growing at right angles; Older trees have a more irregular form; short lateral shoots; grow very slowly in clusters; long shoot with scattered leaves Foliage: interesting and unique; fan shaped, leathery, and smooth; deeply grooved in the middle of the leaf; bright green in summer and golden in the fall.

12. Comparison of Male/ Female Morphology

13. Images

14. Health benefits • Ginkgo Biloba is used to relieve asthma, lung congestion, to increase sexual energy, regulate blood flow, and promote general longevity.

15. RANDOM!!! • The Ginkgo is by far the most primitive land plant. • The Ginkgo sheds its leaves in the winter • The gingko 150 million years ago dominated the earth. • It only shares a few features with the cycads, the dwarfish, hard-leafed palm-like plants seen in town plantings along the Gulf Coast.

16. Bibliography ginkgophyte. ( 2009). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April  15,  2009, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9110289 Mitchell, A. (1987). The Trees Of North America. New York, NY: Facts on File. , . (2008). "Ginkgophyta." In Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved April 12, 2009, from http://http://www.eol.org/pages/4086. , . (). Ginkgo biloba. Retrieved April 12, 2009 from The Ginkgo Pages. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/fossils.htm.