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| Ginkgo
Endangered
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Ginkgo leaf | ||||||||||||||
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| Ginkgo biloba L. |
The Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), sometimes also known as the Maidenhair tree, is a unique tree with no living relatives, being classified within its own division, the Ginkgophyta, comprising the single class Ginkgoopsida, order Ginkgoales, family Ginkgoaceae, genus Ginkgo and just the one species, one of the best examples of a living fossil known. In the past it has also been placed in the divisions Spermatophyta or Pinophyta. Ginkgo is a gymnosperm (as opposed to an angiosperm), meaning "naked seed"; its seed embryos are not protected by a seed shell at pollination, but are exposed to the air.
The Ginkgo is a medium-large deciduous tree, reaching 20-35 m tall, with an often angular crown with long, somewhat erratic branches. They are very long-lived, with some specimens thought to be more than 2,500 years old.
The leaves are unique among seed-bearing plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out with the leaf blade, sometimes bifurcating but never anastomosing (branching); they are 5-15 cm long. The old popular name "Maidenhair tree" is because the leaves resemble some of the pinnae of the Maidenhair fern Adiantum capillus-veneris. Sometimes leaves are notched or lobed, but only from the outer surface, between the veins. The leaves are borne both on the more rapidly-growing branch tips, where they are alternate and spaced out, and also on short, stubby spur shoots, where they are clustered at the tips.
The seed is 1.5-2cm long and contained inside a light yellow-brown coloured, soft fruit-like coating 2-3cm in diameter. It is plum-like and attractive, but contains butanoic acid and thus smells like rancid butterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh cream. It consists of an emulsion of water and milk proteins in a matrix of fat, with over 80% being fat. It is used as a condiment and for cooking in much the same ways as vegetable oils or lard. It is sol (which contains the same chemical). Some people are sensitive to this or other chemicals in the ovary pulp, and when cleaning the seeds they should be handled with care, wearing disposable gloves, if sensitive. The symptoms are a rash or blistersA blister is a defense mechanism of the human body. It consists of a pool of lymph and other bodily fluids beneath the upper layers of the skin. It may be formed in response to burns or friction, and helps to repair damage to the skin. If a blister is pun similar that from poison-ivyPoison ivy Toxicodendron radicans , in the family Anacardiaceae is a woody vine that is well-known for its ability to produce urushiol, a skin irritant which for most people will cause an agonizing, itching rash. Habitat and range Poison ivy grows vigorou. The seed is edible after shelling and after being cooked. Japanese cooks add it to dishes such as chawammushi . The seed are a traditional Chinese food, often served at weddings, and sometimes believed to have health benefits; some also consider them to have aphrodisiacAn aphrodisiac is the arousal of sexual desire, or something which causes it. The name comes from the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite''. Desire can be stimulated by a variety of events or situations (see sexual arousal), but this article focuses on foods qualities (unproven!). The trees are easy to propagate from seed.
The sexes are separate, some trees being female and others being male. In some areas, most trees planted are male stock grafted onto roots propagated from seed, because the male trees will not produce the fleshy, smelly, ovaries.