What are the characteristics of the ginkgo tree? Read the latest analysis in one article

The ginkgo tree, also known as the white fruit tree, grows relatively slowly and has an extremely long lifespan. Under natural conditions, it takes more than twenty years from planting to fruiting, and only after forty years can it bear fruit in large quantities. Therefore, it is also known as the “grandfather-grandson tree,” meaning “planted by the grandfather and eaten by the grandson.” It is the old longevity star among trees. The ginkgo tree has ornamental, economic, and medicinal value, and the whole tree is a “treasure.” The ginkgo tree is the oldest gymnosperm left over after the Quaternary glaciation and is one of the most precious tree species in the world, so it is regarded as a “living fossil” in the plant kingdom. Below, the editor will introduce what the characteristics of the ginkgo tree are!

General characteristics of the ginkgo tree

1. Leaves: fan-shaped, with a stalk; leaves on long shoots mostly have 2 lobes, while leaves on short shoots often have wavy indentations.

2. Sporophyll cones: unisexual, dioecious.

3. Microsporophyll cones: catkin-like, borne in the axils of scales at the tips of short shoots. Microsporophylls have short stalks, and the stalk tips often bear 2 pendulous microsporangia.

4. Microspores: oblong, with a sunken distal groove along the longitudinal axis, and the outer wall has minute protrusions.

5. Megasporophyll cones: simple, usually with a long stalk; at the stalk tip are 2 ring-like megasporophylls, specifically called a collar, each bearing 1 orthotropous ovule.

6. Seeds: seeds nearly spherical, seed coat differentiated into 3 layers. Embryo with 2 cotyledons, chromosomes: x=12.

Primitive characteristics of the ginkgo tree

Ginkgo has many relatively primitive characteristics. Its leaf vein pattern is “dichotomous forked venation,” which is unique among gymnosperms but very common among ferns. When its male flower pollen germinates, it produces only two motile sperm with cilia. This characteristic is found among gymnosperms only in cycads, and it is also very common among ferns. This shows that ginkgo is a more ancient plant than trees such as pines, firs, and cypresses. Therefore, botanically it is classified as one class, one order, one family, one genus, and one species.

Identifying characteristics of the ginkgo tree

Deciduous tree, leaves fan-shaped, scattered on long shoots, clustered on short shoots. Strobili unisexual, dioecious. Seeds drupe-like.

Morphological characteristics of the ginkgo tree

It is a large deciduous tree, with trunk diameter reaching up to 4 m. The bark of young trees is nearly smooth and light gray; the bark of large trees is grayish brown, irregularly longitudinally fissured, with long shoots and slow-growing spur-like short shoots. Leaves alternate, radially scattered on long shoots, and clustered in groups of 3-5 on short shoots, with slender petioles, fan-shaped, light green on both sides, more or less notched or 2-lobed at the broad apical margin, 5-8 (-15) cm wide, with many forked and fine veins. Dioecious, rarely monoecious; strobili solitary in the leaf axils of short shoots; male strobili catkin-like, stamens numerous, each with 2 anthers; female strobili with long stalks, the stalk tip usually divided into two forks (rarely 3-5 forks), each fork tip bearing 1 ovule with a disc-like cupule, usually 1 ovule developing into a mature seed.

Seeds drupe-like, with long stalks, pendulous, elliptic, oblong-obovate, ovate, or nearly spherical, 2.5-3.5 cm long, 1.5-2 cm in diameter; aril fleshy, covered with white powder, pale yellow or orange-yellow when mature; seed coat bony, white, usually with 2 (rarely 3) longitudinal ridges; inner seed coat membranous.

Summary: The ginkgo tree is tall and upright, with fan-shaped leaves. Its crown is large and shade-giving, and it has a cooling effect. The leaf shape is quaint and elegant, and its lifespan is long. It has no pests or diseases, does not pollute the environment, and its trunk is smooth. It is a famous pollution-free tree species, beneficial to the propagation of ginkgo and adding to the scenery. It has strong adaptability, and ginkgo has very broad requirements for climate and soil. It is resistant to smoke and dust, resistant to fire, and resistant to toxic gases. The ginkgo tree is tall, with a straight trunk and graceful posture, emerald green in spring and summer and golden in late autumn. It is an ideal tree species for landscaping and street trees. It can be used as an ideal cultivated tree species for landscaping, streets, highways, field shelterbelts, and windbreak belts. It is listed as one of China's four major long-lived ornamental tree species (pine, cypress, pagoda tree, ginkgo).