Ginkgoaceae
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Ginkgo family🍃
Ginkgoaceae
イチョウ科
Only one extant species, Ginkgo biloba. Once encompassed many species but now survives as a 'living fossil.' An extremely ancient lineage among gymnosperms.
Key Characteristics
- ●Fan-shaped leaves with dichotomous venation
- ●Dioecious
- ●Seeds (ginkgo nuts) have a fleshy, foul-smelling outer coat
- ●Deciduous
Morphological Traits
A family may include species with different trait values — multiple values indicate the range within the family.
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf type
Simple
Venation
Palmate
Leaf margin
Entire
Leaf shape
Palmate
Growth form
Tree
Evergreen/Deciduous
Deciduous
Leaf dissection
Dissected
Stipules
Absent
Flower symmetry
Actinomorphic
Petal fusion
No petals
Ovary position
Superior
Plant sex
Dioecious
Phylogenetic Position
Gymnosperms > Ginkgoopsida > Ginkgoales > Ginkgoaceae
Divergence Era
Permian to Triassic (approx. 250 million years ago onward)
Representative Genera
イチョウ属（Ginkgo）
Related Evolution Events
- ・An isolated lineage that diverged early among gymnosperms
- ・Diversified during the Mesozoic but reduced to a single species today