Order Ginkgoales

Order Ginkgoales

Only one species of Ginkgo,Ginkgo biloba, remains today and this may be the oldest living seed plant. Two hundred million year old fossils have been found that have fan-shaped leaves like those of the present-day Maidenhair Tree. In the distant past, Ginkgos were common throughout the world but today the last surviving species grows in China. It might well have become extinct if it were not prized as an ornamental tree. [CH] {FW}