Ginkgo biloba#Culinary

File:Ginkgo biloba JPG1a.jpg, Belgium]]

Ginkgos are large trees, normally reaching a height of {{convert|20|–|35|m|ft|0|abbr=on}},{{cite book |last1=Ansari |first1=Abid A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1N76DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA236 |title=Plant Biodiversity: Monitoring, Assessment and Conservation |last2=Gill |first2=Sarvajeet Singh |last3=Abbas |first3=Zahid Khorshid |last4=Naeem |first4=M. |date=2016-12-23 |publisher=CABI |isbn=978-1-78064-694-7 |language=en}} with some specimens in China being over {{convert|50|m|ft|round=5|abbr=on}}. The tree has an angular crown and long, somewhat erratic branches, and is usually deep-rooted and resistant to wind and snow damage. Young trees are often tall and slender, and sparsely branched; the crown becomes broader as the tree ages. A combination of resistance to disease, insect-resistant wood, and the ability to form aerial roots and sprouts makes ginkgos durable, with some specimens claimed to be more than 2,500 years old.{{cite web |title=Ginkgo – Ginkgo biloba – The University of Alabama Arboretum {{!}} The University of Alabama |url=https://arboretum.ua.edu/whats-growing-on/ginkgo-ginkgo-biloba/ |access-date=2022-02-26 |website=arboretum.ua.edu}}

File:Ginkgo Biloba Leaves - Black Background.jpg

File:GinkgoLeaves.jpg

The leaves are unique among seed plants, being fan-shaped with veins radiating out into the leaf blade, sometimes bifurcating (splitting), but never anastomosing to form a network.{{cite web |url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/ginkgoales/ginkgomm.html |title=More on Morphology of the Ginkgoales |website=www.ucmp.berkeley.edu |access-date=12 August 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001017225748/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/ginkgoales/ginkgomm.html |archive-date=17 October 2000 }} Two veins enter the leaf blade at the base and fork repeatedly in two; this is known as dichotomous venation. The leaves are usually {{convert|5|–|10|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}}, but sometimes up to {{convert|15|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=on}} long. The old common name, maidenhair tree, derives from the leaves resembling pinnae of the maidenhair fern, Adiantum capillus-veneris. Ginkgos are prized for their autumn foliage, which is a deep saffron yellow.{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Jeffrey G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nERh9pS5r5MC&pg=PA113 |title=The Tree Book: A Practical Guide to Selecting and Maintaining the Best Trees for Your Yard and Garden |date=2004 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-4974-4 |page=113 |language=en}}

Leaves of long shoots are usually notched or lobed, but only from the outer surface, between the veins. They are borne both on the more rapidly growing branch tips, where they are alternate and spaced out, and also on the short, stubby spur shoots, where they are clustered at the tips. Leaves are green both on the top and bottom{{cite web |url=http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/emmae24/Ginkgoaceae/ginkgo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040823040332/http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/emmae24/Ginkgoaceae/ginkgo.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 August 2004 |title=Ginkgo Tree |website=www.bio.brandeis.edu |access-date=18 July 2016 }} and have stomata on both sides.{{cite web |url=https://prezi.com/clwhmur-nprv/ginkgo-tree/ |title=Ginkgo Tree |website=prezi.com |access-date=18 July 2016}} During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow and then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (one to fifteen days).{{cite web |title=PlantsMap |url=https://www.plantsmap.com/organizations/25638/plants/110024 |access-date=2022-06-24 |website=Plants Map |language=en}} Leaves of the variety or forma G. b. tubifolia have funnel-shaped leaves.{{cite web | url= https://www.xs4all.nl/~kwanten/culttubifolia.htm | last= Kwant | first= Cor | title= The Ginkgo Pages | date= n.d. | access-date=October 22, 2002 }}

Ginkgo branches grow in length by growth of shoots with regularly spaced leaves, as seen on most trees. From the axils of these leaves, "spur shoots" (also known as short shoots) develop on second-year growth. Short shoots have short internodes (they may grow only one to two centimeters in several years) and their leaves are usually unlobed. They are short and knobby, and are arranged regularly on the branches except on first-year growth. Because of the short internodes, leaves appear to be clustered at the tips of short shoots, and reproductive structures are formed only on them (seeds and leaves are visible on short shoots). In ginkgos, as in other plants that possess them, short shoots allow the formation of new leaves in the older parts of the crown. After a number of years, a short shoot may change into a long (ordinary) shoot, or vice versa.{{Cite journal |last1=Brenner |first1=Eric D. |last2=Katari |first2=Manpreet S. |last3=Stevenson |first3=Dennis W. |last4=Rudd |first4=Stephen A. |last5=Douglas |first5=Andrew W. |last6=Moss |first6=Walter N. |last7=Twigg |first7=Richard W. |last8=Runko |first8=Suzan J. |last9=Stellari |first9=Giulia M. |last10=McCombie |first10=W. R. |last11=Coruzzi |first11=Gloria M. |date=2005-10-15 |title=EST analysis in Ginkgo biloba: an assessment of conserved developmental regulators and gymnosperm specific genes |journal=BMC Genomics |volume=6 |pages=143 |doi=10.1186/1471-2164-6-143 |doi-access=free |issn=1471-2164 |pmc=1285361 |pmid=16225698}}

File:Ginkgo biloba MHNT.BOT.2010.13.1.jpg

Ginkgo prefers full sun and grows best in environments that are well-watered and well-drained. The species shows a preference for disturbed sites; in the "semiwild" stands at Tianmu Mountains, many specimens are found along stream banks, rocky slopes, and cliff edges. Accordingly, ginkgo retains a prodigious capacity for vegetative growth. It is capable of sprouting from embedded buds near the base of the trunk (lignotubers, or basal chichi) in response to disturbances, such as soil erosion. Old specimens are also capable of producing aerial roots on the undersides of large branches in response to disturbances such as crown damage; these roots can lead to successful clonal reproduction upon contacting the soil. These strategies are evidently important in the persistence of ginkgo; in a survey of the "semiwild" stands remaining in Tianmushan, 40% of the specimens surveyed were multi-stemmed, and few saplings were present.{{cite journal |first1=Dana L. |last1=Royer |first2=Leo J. |last2=Hickey |first3=Scott L. |last3=Wing |year=2003 |title=Ecological conservatism in the 'living fossil' Ginkgo |journal=Paleobiology |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=84–104 |doi=10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0084:ECITLF>2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=19865243 |issn=0094-8373}}{{rp|86–87}}

Ginkgo biloba is dioecious, with separate sexes, some trees being female and others being male.{{cite book |last1=Pendarvis |first1=Murray P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UcRKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA362 |title=Exploring Biology in the Laboratory, 3e |last2=Crawley |first2=John L. |date=2018-02-01 |publisher=Morton Publishing Company |isbn=978-1-61731-756-9 |language=en}} Male plants produce small pollen cones with sporophylls, each bearing two microsporangia spirally arranged around a central axis. Sex conversion, wherein certain branches of a tree change sexes, has been observed.{{r|nagata2016}} This phenomenon is difficult to research because of its rarity as well as the practice of grafting female branches onto otherwise male trees that was common in 19th century Europe.{{r|osgf2017}}

Female plants do not produce cones. Two ovules are formed at the end of a stalk, and after wind pollination,{{cite journal |last1=Jin |first1=Biao |last2=Jiang |first2=Xiaoxue |last3=Wang |first3=Di |last4=Zhang |first4=Lei |last5=Wan |first5=Yinglang |last6=Wang |first6=Li |date=September 2012 |title=The behavior of pollination drop secretion in Ginkgo biloba L. |journal=Plant Signaling & Behavior |language=en |volume=7 |issue=9 |pages=1168–1176 |doi=10.4161/psb.21122 |issn=1559-2324 |pmc=3489653 |pmid=22899081|bibcode=2012PlSiB...7.1168J }} one or both develop into fruit-like structures containing seeds. The fruits are 1.5–2 cm long, with a soft, fleshy, yellow-brown outer layer (the sarcotesta) that is attractive in appearance, but contains butyric acid{{cite book |last=Raven |first=Peter H. |author2=Ray F. Evert |author3=Susan E. Eichhorn |year=2005 |title=Biology of Plants |edition=7th |location=New York |publisher=W. H. Freeman and Company |isbn=978-0-7167-1007-3 |pages=429–430}} (also known as butanoic acid) and smells foul like rancid butter or vomit{{cite book |last=Plotnik |first=Arthur |year=2000 |title=The Urban Tree Book: An Uncommon Field Guide for City and Town |edition=1st |location=New York |publisher=Three Rivers Press |isbn=978-0-8129-3103-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/urbantreebook00arth/page/202 202] |url=https://archive.org/details/urbantreebook00arth/page/202}} when fallen. Beneath the sarcotesta is the hard sclerotesta (the "shell" of the seed) and a papery endotesta, with the nucellus surrounding the female gametophyte at the center.{{cite web |url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/IB181/VPL/CorCon/CorCon2.html |title=Lab IX – Ginkgo, Cordaites, Conifers (2) |website=ucmp.berkeley.edu}}

{{multiple image

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|image1 = Ginkgo biloba male flower.jpg

|caption1 = Pollen cones

|image2 = Ginkgo biloba female flower.jpg

|caption2 = Ovules

}}

The fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs via motile sperm, as in cycads, ferns, mosses, and algae. The sperm are large (about 70–90 micrometres){{cite book |author=Vanbeek, A. |title=Ginkgo Biloba (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants: Industrial Profiles) |publisher=CRC Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-90-5702-488-7 |page=37}} and are similar to the sperm of cycads, which are slightly larger. Ginkgo sperm were first discovered by the Japanese botanist Sakugoro Hirase in 1896.{{cite journal |author=Ogura, Y. |url=http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/fo47/ginkgo/ogura.htm |title=History of Discovery of Spermatozoids In Ginkgo biloba and Cycas revoluta |journal=Phytomorphology |volume=17 |pages=109–114 |date=1967 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926052738/http://www1.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/fo47/ginkgo/ogura.htm |archive-date=26 September 2015}} The sperm have a complex multi-layered structure, which is a continuous belt of basal bodies that form the base of several thousand flagella which have a cilia-like motion. The flagella/cilia apparatus pulls the body of the sperm forwards. The sperm have only a tiny distance to travel to the archegonia, of which there are usually two or three. Two sperm are produced, one of which successfully fertilizes the ovule. Fertilization of ginkgo seeds occurs just before or after they fall in early autumn. Embryos may develop in the seeds before or after they drop from the tree.{{cite journal |last1=Holt |first1=B. F. |last2=Rothwell |first2=G. W. |title=Is Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae) Really an Oviparous Plant? |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=84 |issue=6 |pages=870–872 |year=1997 |doi=10.2307/2445823 |pmid=21708639 |jstor=2445823 |doi-access=free}}

Chinese scientists published a draft genome of Ginkgo biloba in 2016.{{cite journal |last1=Guan |first1=Rui |last2=Zhao |first2=Yunpeng |last3=Zhang |first3=He |last4=Fan |first4=Guangyi |last5=Liu |first5=Xin |last6=Zhou |first6=Wenbin |last7=Shi |first7=Chengcheng |last8=Wang |first8=Jiahao |last9=Liu |first9=Weiqing |date=1 January 2016 |title=Draft genome of the living fossil Ginkgo biloba |journal=GigaScience |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=49 |doi=10.1186/s13742-016-0154-1 |pmid=27871309 |pmc=5118899 |issn=2047-217X |doi-access=free }} The tree has a large genome of 10.6 billion DNA nucleobase "letters" (the human genome has three billion) and about 41,840 predicted genes{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38057741 |title=Ginkgo 'living fossil' genome decoded |date=21 November 2016 |newspaper=BBC News |language=en-GB |access-date=23 November 2016}} which enable a considerable number of antibacterial and chemical defense mechanisms. 76.58% of the assembled sequence turned out to be repetitive sequences.[https://gigascience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13742-016-0154-1 Draft genome of the living fossil Ginkgo biloba – GigaScience]

In 2020, a study in China of ginkgo trees up to 667 years old showed little effects of aging, finding that the trees continued to grow with age and displayed no genetic evidence of senescence, and continued to make phytochemicals indefinitely.{{cite news |last=Hunt |first=Katie |date=January 14, 2020 |title=Some trees can live for more than 1,000 years and scientists may have figured out why |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/asia/ginkgo-trees-secret-longevity-scn/index.html |access-date=January 19, 2020}}

Extracts of ginkgo leaves contain phenolic acids, proanthocyanidins, flavonoid glycosides, such as myricetin, kaempferol, isorhamnetin, and quercetin, and the terpene trilactones ginkgolides and bilobalides.{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Chromatography A |year=2002 |volume=967 |issue=1 |pages=21–55 |title=Chemical analysis of Ginkgo biloba leaves and extracts |vauthors=van Beek TA |doi=10.1016/S0021-9673(02)00172-3 |pmid=12219929}}{{cite journal |journal=J Chromatogr A |year=2009 |volume=1216 |issue=11 |pages=2002–2032 |doi=10.1016/j.chroma.2009.01.013 |pmid=19195661 |title=Chemical analysis and quality control of Ginkgo biloba leaves, extracts, and phytopharmaceuticals |vauthors=van Beek TA, Montoro P}} The leaves also contain unique ginkgo biflavones, alkylphenols, and polyprenols.

The older Chinese name for this plant is 銀果, meaning "silver fruit", pronounced yínguǒ in Mandarin or Ngan-gwo in Cantonese. The current commonly used names are 白果 ({{transliteration|zh|bái guǒ}}), meaning "white fruit", and {{lang|zh|銀杏}} ({{transliteration|zh|yínxìng}}), meaning "silver apricot". The name 銀杏 was translated into Japanese as イチョウ ({{transliteration|ja|ichou}}) or ぎんなん ({{transliteration|ja|ginnan}}) and into Korean as 은행 ({{transliteration|ko|eunhaeng}}).

Carl Linnaeus described the species in 1771, the specific epithet biloba derived from the Latin bis, "twice" and loba, "lobed", referring to the shape of the leaves.{{cite book |author=Simpson DP |title=Cassell's Latin Dictionary |publisher=Cassell Ltd. |year=1979 |edition=5 |location=London |page=883 |isbn=978-0-304-52257-6}} Two names for the species recognise the botanist Richard Salisbury, a placement by Nelson as Pterophyllus salisburiensis and the earlier Salisburia adiantifolia proposed by James Edward Smith. The epithet of the latter may have been intended to denote a characteristic resembling Adiantum, the genus of maidenhair ferns.{{cite web |url=https://imaginatorium.org/sano/ginkgo2.htm |title=Ginkgo Origins |last=Chandler |first=Brian |year=2000 |website=Ginkgo pages |access-date=22 November 2010}}

The scientific name Ginkgo is the result of a spelling error that occurred three centuries ago. Kanji typically have multiple pronunciations in Japanese, and the characters 銀杏 used for ginnan can also be pronounced ginkyō. Engelbert Kaempfer, the first Westerner to investigate the species in 1690, wrote down this pronunciation in the notes that he later used for the Amoenitates Exoticae (1712) with the "awkward" spelling "ginkgo".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xp5Zy0O01I0C |author=Engelbert Kaempfer |title=Amoenitates exoticae politico-physico-medicae |date=1721 |publisher=Meyer |location=Lengoviae |language=la}} This appears to be a simple error of Kaempfer; taking his spelling of other Japanese words containing the syllable "kyō" into account, a more precise romanization following his writing habits would have been "ginkio" or "ginkjo". Linnaeus, who relied on Kaempfer when dealing with Japanese plants, adopted the spelling given in Kaempfer's "Flora Japonica" (Amoenitates Exoticae, p. 811). Kaempfer's drawing can be found in Hori's article.

The relationship of ginkgo to other plant groups remains uncertain. It has been placed loosely in the divisions Spermatophyta and Pinophyta, but no consensus has been reached. Since its seeds are not protected by an ovary wall, it can morphologically be considered a gymnosperm. The apricot-like structures produced by female ginkgo trees are technically not fruits, but are seeds that have a shell consisting of a soft and fleshy section (the sarcotesta), and a hard section (the sclerotesta). The sarcotesta has a strong smell that most people find unpleasant.{{Cite web |last=Jaikumar |first=Devika |date=2008-05-15 |title=Wake Up and Smell the Ginkgos |url=https://arboretum.harvard.edu/stories/wake-up-and-smell-the-ginkgos/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=Arnold Arboretum |language=en-us}}{{Cite journal |last1=Šamec |first1=Dunja |last2=Karalija |first2=Erna |last3=Dahija |first3=Sabina |last4=Hassan |first4=Sherif T. S. |date=2022-05-23 |title=Biflavonoids: Important Contributions to the Health Benefits of Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba L.) |journal=Plants |language=en |volume=11 |issue=10 |pages=1381 |doi=10.3390/plants11101381 |doi-access=free |issn=2223-7747 |pmc=9143338 |pmid=35631806}}{{Cite web |last=Duara |first=Nigel |date=2009-10-05 |title=Smell has some cities ripping out ginkgo trees |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/smell-has-some-cities-ripping-out-ginkgo-trees/ |access-date=2024-06-13 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}

The ginkgo is classified in its own division, the Ginkgophyta, comprising the single class Ginkgoopsida, order Ginkgoales, family Ginkgoaceae, genus Ginkgo and is the only extant species within this group. It is one of the best-known examples of a living fossil, because Ginkgoales other than G. biloba are not known from the fossil record after the Pliocene.{{cite journal |last1=Zhou |first1=Zhiyan |last2=Zheng |first2=Shaolin |title=Palaeobiology: The missing link in Ginkgo evolution |journal=Nature |volume=423 |issue=6942 |pages=821–822 |year=2003 |pmid=12815417 |doi=10.1038/423821a |bibcode=2003Natur.423..821Z |s2cid=4342303}}{{cite web

|url=https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/seedplants/ginkgoales/ginkgofr.html

|title=Ginkgoales: Fossil Record

|access-date=3 June 2008

|author1=Julie Jalalpour |author2=Matt Malkin |author3=Peter Poon |author4=Liz Rehrmann |author5=Jerry Yu |year=1997

|publisher=University of California, Berkeley

}}

File:Ginkgo yimaensis.jpg|Extinct Ginkgo yimaensisApproximate reconstructions by B. M. Begović Bego and Z. Zhou, 2010/2011. Source: B.M. Begović Bego, (2011). Nature's Miracle Ginkgo biloba, Book 1, Vols. 1–2, pp. 60–61.

File:Ginkgo apodes.jpg|Extinct G. apodes

File:Ginkgo cranei.jpg|Extinct Ginkgo adiantoides, or possibly a new US taxon, G. cranei

File:Ginkgo biloba (new form).jpg|Extant G. biloba

File:Baiera.jpg

Ginkgo biloba is a living fossil, with fossils recognisably related to modern ginkgo from the early Permian (Cisuralian), with likely oldest record being that of Trichopitys from the earliest Permian (Asselian) of France, over 290 million years old.{{cite journal |last=Zhou |first=Zhi-Yan |date=March 2009 |title=An overview of fossil Ginkgoales |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1871174X0900002X |journal=Palaeoworld |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2009.01.001 |quote=}} The closest living relatives of the clade are the cycads,{{rp|84}} which share with the extant G. biloba the characteristic of motile sperm.

Such plants with leaves that have more than four veins per segment have customarily been assigned to the taxon Ginkgo, while the taxon Baiera is used to classify those with fewer than four veins per segment. Sphenobaiera has been used for plants with a broadly wedge-shaped leaf that lacks a distinct leaf stem.{{Cite journal |last1=Unverfärth |first1=Jan |last2=McLoughlin |first2=Stephen |last3=Möllmann |first3=Magali |last4=Bomfleur |first4=Benjamin |date=2022-10-02 |title=Sphenobaiera insecta from the Upper Triassic of South Australia, with a clarification of the genus Sphenobaiera (fossil Ginkgophyta) and its delimitation from similar foliage genera |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23818107.2022.2076259 |journal=Botany Letters |language=en |volume=169 |issue=4 |pages=442–453 |doi=10.1080/23818107.2022.2076259 |bibcode=2022BotL..169..442U |issn=2381-8107}}{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Yongdong |last2=Guignard |first2=Gaëtan |last3=Thévenard |first3=Frédéric |last4=Dilcher |first4=David |last5=Barale |first5=Georges |last6=Mosbrugger |first6=Volker |last7=Yang |first7=Xiaoju |last8=Mei |first8=Shengwu |date=2005 |title=Cuticular anatomy of Sphenobaiera huangii (Ginkgoales) from the Lower Jurassic of Hubei, China |url=https://bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3732/ajb.92.4.709 |journal=American Journal of Botany |language=en |volume=92 |issue=4 |pages=709–721 |doi=10.3732/ajb.92.4.709 |pmid=21652450 |issn=0002-9122}}

File:Ginkgo biloba MacAbee BC.jpg epoch from the McAbee Fossil Beds, British Columbia]]

Fossils attributable to the genus Ginkgo first appeared in the Middle Jurassic. The genus Ginkgo diversified and spread throughout Laurasia during the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous.

The Ginkgophyta declined in diversity as the Cretaceous progressed, and by the Paleocene, Ginkgo adiantoides was the only Ginkgo species left in the Northern Hemisphere, while a markedly different (and poorly documented) form persisted in the Southern Hemisphere. Along with that of ferns, cycads, and cycadeoids, the species diversity in the genus Ginkgo drops through the Cretaceous, at the same time the flowering plants were on the rise; this supports the hypothesis that, over time, flowering plants with better adaptations to disturbance displaced Ginkgo and its associates.{{rp|93}}

At the end of the Pliocene, Ginkgo fossils disappeared from the fossil record everywhere except in a small area of central China, where the modern species survived.

File:Fossil Plant Ginkgo.jpg period formation in Scarborough, UK]]

It is doubtful whether the Northern Hemisphere fossil species of Ginkgo can be reliably distinguished. Given the slow pace of evolution and morphological similarity between members of the genus, there may have been only one or two species existing in the Northern Hemisphere through the entirety of the Cenozoic: present-day G. biloba (including G. adiantoides) and G. gardneri from the Paleocene of Scotland.{{rp|85}}

At least morphologically, G. gardneri and the Southern Hemisphere species are the only known post-Jurassic taxa that can be unequivocally recognised. The remainder may have been ecotypes or subspecies. The implications would be that G. biloba had occurred over an extremely wide range, had remarkable genetic flexibility and, though evolving genetically, never showed much speciation.{{Cite journal |last1=Zhao |first1=Yun-Peng |last2=Fan |first2=Guangyi |last3=Yin |first3=Ping-Ping |last4=Sun |first4=Shuai |last5=Li |first5=Ning |last6=Hong |first6=Xiaoning |last7=Hu |first7=Gang |last8=Zhang |first8=He |last9=Zhang |first9=Fu-Min |last10=Han |first10=Jing-Dan |last11=Hao |first11=Ya-Jun |last12=Xu |first12=Qiwu |last13=Yang |first13=Xianwei |last14=Xia |first14=Wenjie |last15=Chen |first15=Wenbin |date=2019-09-13 |title=Resequencing 545 ginkgo genomes across the world reveals the evolutionary history of the living fossil |journal=Nature Communications |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=4201 |doi=10.1038/s41467-019-12133-5 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=6744486 |pmid=31519986|bibcode=2019NatCo..10.4201Z }}{{Cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Wei |last2=Chen |first2=Chuan |last3=Dobes |first3=Christoph |last4=Fu |first4=Cheng-Xin |last5=Koch |first5=Marcus A. |date=2008 |title=Phylogeography of a living fossil: pleistocene glaciations forced Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) into two refuge areas in China with limited subsequent postglacial expansion |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790308002194 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=1094–1105 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2008.05.003 |issn=1095-9513 |pmid=18554931|bibcode=2008MolPE..48.1094G }}

While it may seem improbable that a single species may exist as a contiguous entity for many millions of years, many of the ginkgo's life-history parameters fit: Extreme longevity; slow reproduction rate; (in Cenozoic and later times) a wide, apparently contiguous, but steadily contracting distribution; and (as far as can be demonstrated from the fossil record) extreme ecological conservatism (restriction to disturbed streamside environments).{{rp|91}}

Given the slow rate of evolution of the genus, Ginkgo possibly represents a pre-angiosperm strategy for survival in disturbed streamside environments. Ginkgo evolved in an era before flowering plants, when ferns, cycads, and cycadeoids dominated disturbed streamside environments, forming low, open, shrubby canopies. Ginkgo{{'s}} large seeds and habit of "bolting" – growing to a height of 10 meters before elongating its side branches – may be adaptations to such an environment.

Modern-day G. biloba grows best in environments that are well-watered and drained,{{rp|87}} and the extremely similar fossil Ginkgo favored similar environments: The sediment record at the majority of fossil Ginkgo localities indicates it grew primarily in disturbed environments, such as along streams. Ginkgo, therefore, presents an "ecological paradox" because while it possesses some favorable traits for living in disturbed environments (clonal reproduction) many of its other life-history traits are the opposite of those exhibited by modern plants that thrive in disturbed settings (slow growth, large seed size, late reproductive maturity).{{rp|92}}

The genus name is regarded as a misspelling of the Japanese pronunciation {{Transliteration|ja|gin kyō}} ({{IPA|ja|ɡiŋkʲoː|}}) for the kanji {{Nihongo2|銀杏}} meaning "silver apricot",{{Citation|last=Coombes|first=Allen J.|title=Dictionary of Plant Names|year=1994|location=London|publisher=Hamlyn Books|isbn=978-0-600-58187-1}} which is found in Chinese herbology literature such as {{lang|zh|日用本草}} (Daily Use Materia Medica) (1329) and Compendium of Materia Medica {{lang|zh|本草綱目}} published in 1578.T. Hori, A historical survey of Ginkgo biloba based on Japanese and Chinese classical literatures, Plant Morphology, 2001, 31, 31–40

Despite its spelling, which is due to a complicated etymology including a transcription error, "ginkgo" is usually pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɪ|ŋ|k|oʊ}}, which has given rise to the common alternative spelling "gingko". The spelling pronunciation {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɪ|ŋ|k|g|oʊ}} is also documented in some dictionaries.{{Cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/ginkgo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322182209/https://www.lexico.com/definition/ginkgo |archive-date=22 March 2020 |title=ginkgo |dictionary=Lexico UK English Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press}}{{cite Merriam-Webster |ginkgo}}

Engelbert Kaempfer first introduced the spelling ginkgo in his book {{Langx|la|Amoenitatum Exoticarum|label=none}} of 1712.{{cite book

| last = Kaempfer | first = Engelbert | author-link = Engelbert Kaempfer

| date = 1712

| title = Amoenitatum exoticarum

| location = Lemgoviae

| publisher = Typis & impensis Henrici Wilhelmi Meyeri, aulae Lippiacae typographi

| pages = 811–813

| language = la

| url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55640517

}} (with illustration) It is considered that he may have misspelled "Ginkjo" or "Ginkio" (both consistent with his treatment of Japanese {{Transliteration|ja|kyō}} in the same work) as "Ginkgo". This misspelling was included by Linnaeus in his book {{Langx|la|Mantissa plantarum II|label=none}}See page 131 of Car. a Linné Mantissa plantarum: Generum editionis VI. et specierum editionis II, available at [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/137335#page/181/mode/1up] and has become the name of the tree's genus.{{cite web |last=Michel |first=Wolfgang |title=On Engelbert Kaempfer's 'Ginkgo' |pages=1–5 |publisher=Kyushu University |location=Fukuoka |year=2011 |orig-date=2005 |url=https://catalog.lib.kyushu-u.ac.jp/opac_download_md/2898/Ginkgo_biloba2_revised_2011.pdf}} The specific epithet {{Langx|la|biloba|label=none}} is New Latin for "two-lobed".

File:Ginkgo tree in Green-Wood Cemetery (23299p).jpg

Although Ginkgo biloba and other species of the genus were once widespread throughout the world, its habitat had shrunk by two million years ago.

For centuries, it was thought to be extinct in the wild,{{cite book |last1=Usher |first1=Carol |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vl4jAtACVQsC&pg=PA70 |title=Eyewitness Companions: Trees: Identification, Forests, Historic Species, Wood Types |last2=White |first2=John |last3=Ridsdale |first3=Colin |date=2005-10-17 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-7566-4865-7 |language=en}} but is now a common tree cultivated throughout eastern China, Korea, and Japan. Many municipalities in Korea and Japan use Ginkgos as street trees, and Ginkgo leaves are the emblem of prominent educational institutions such as the University of Tokyo and Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. Despite their widespread habitat, high genetic uniformity exists among ginkgo trees, with some Chinese scholars suggesting that ginkgo trees in these areas may have been planted and preserved by Chinese monks over about 1,000 years.{{cite journal |last1=Shen |first1=L |last2=Chen |first2=X-Y |last3=Zhang |first3=X |last4=Li |first4=Y-Y |last5=Fu |first5=C-X |last6=Qiu |first6=Y-X |title=Genetic variation of Ginkgo biloba L. (Ginkgoaceae) based on cpDNA PCR-RFLPs: inference of glacial refugia |journal=Heredity |volume=94 |issue=4 |pages=396–401 |year=2004 |pmid=15536482 |doi=10.1038/sj.hdy.6800616 |doi-access=free}} A study demonstrates a greater genetic diversity in Southwestern China populations, supporting glacial refugia in mountains surrounding the eastern Tibetan Plateau, where several old-growth candidates for wild populations have been reported.{{cite journal |last1=Tang |first1=CQ |last2=al |first2=et |title=Evidence for the persistence of wild Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae) populations in the Dalou Mountains, southwestern China |journal=American Journal of Botany |volume=99 |issue=8 |pages=1408–1414 |year=2012 |doi=10.3732/ajb.1200168 |pmid=22847538 |title-link=Dalou Mountains |doi-access=free}} Whether native ginkgo populations still exist has not been demonstrated unequivocally, but there is genetic evidence that these Southwestern populations may be wild, as well as evidence that the largest and oldest G. biloba trees may be older than surrounding human settlements.

Where it occurs in the wild, Ginkgo is found infrequently in deciduous forests and valleys on acidic loess (i.e. fine, silty soil) with good drainage. The soil it inhabits is typically in the pH range of 5.0 to 5.5.{{cite book |last=Fu |first=Liguo |author2=Li, Nan |author3=Mill, Robert R. |contribution =Ginkgo biloba |year=1999 |title=Flora of China |editor-last=Wu |editor-first=Z. Y. |editor2=Raven, P.H. |editor3=Hong, D.Y. |volume=4 |page=8 |place=Beijing |publisher=Science Press; St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press |contribution-url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005235}}

File:Gingko biloba JPG2b.jpg Park, Belgium]]

Ginkgo has long been cultivated in China. It is common in the southern third of the country. Some planted trees at temples are believed to be over 1,500 years old. The first record of Europeans encountering it is in 1690 in Japanese temple gardens, where the tree was seen by the German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Because of its status in Buddhism and Confucianism, the ginkgo has also been widely planted in Korea and in Japan since the 14th century;{{cite web |author=Roger Cohn |title=The life story of the oldest tree on Earth (interview of Peter Crane) |publisher=Yale Environment 360, Yale School of the Environment |date=1 May 2013 |access-date=3 September 2021 |url=https://e360.yale.edu/features/peter_crane_history_of_ginkgo_earths_oldest_tree}} in both areas, some naturalization has occurred, with ginkgos seeding into natural forests. Ginkgo has been commonly cultivated in North America for over 200 years and in Europe for close to 300, but during that time, it has never become significantly naturalized.{{cite book |last=Whetstone |first=R. David |contribution=Ginkgo biloba |year =2006 |title=Flora of North America |volume =2 |contribution-url=http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=200005235 |place=New York & Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press}}

G. biloba is also commonly manually planted in cities across the United States and Europe. This species is highly tolerant to pollution and serves as a visually appealing, shade-providing tree in many cities and gardens.{{Cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Lukun |last2=Liu |first2=Jiamin |last3=Liu |first3=Jing |last4=Wei |first4=Haiyan |last5=Fang |first5=Yaqin |last6=Wang |first6=Daju |last7=Chen |first7=Ruidun |last8=Gu |first8=Wei |date=2023-05-01 |title=Revealing the long-term trend of the global-scale Ginkgo biloba distribution and the impact of future climate change based on the ensemble modeling |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |language=en |volume=32 |issue=6 |pages=2077–2100 |doi=10.1007/s10531-023-02593-z |bibcode=2023BiCon..32.2077W |s2cid=257939546 |issn=1572-9710}}

Many intentionally planted ginkgos are male cultivars grafted onto plants propagated from seed, because the male trees will not produce the malodorous seeds. The popular cultivar 'Autumn Gold' is a clone of a male plant.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The disadvantage of male Ginkgo biloba trees is that they are highly allergenic. They have an OPALS (Ogren Plant Allergy Scale) rating of 7 (out of 10), whereas female trees, which can produce no pollen, have an OPALS allergy scale rating of 2.{{cite book |last=Ogren |first=Thomas Leo |title=Allergy-Free Gardening |date=2000 |publisher=Ten Speed Press |location=Berkeley, California |isbn=978-1-58008-166-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/allergyfreegarde00thom/page/112 112] |url=https://archive.org/details/allergyfreegarde00thom/page/112}}

Female cultivars include 'Liberty Splendor', 'Santa Cruz', and 'Golden Girl', the latter so named because of the striking yellow color of its leaves in the fall; all female cultivars release zero pollen.

Many cultivars are listed in the literature in the UK, of which the compact 'Troll' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.{{cite web

|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/210450/i-ginkgo-biloba-i-troll/details

|title=RHS Plantfinder – Ginkgo biloba 'Troll' |access-date=2 March 2018}}{{cite web

|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |title=AGM Plants – Ornamental |date=July 2017

|page=43 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=2 March 2018}}

Ginkgos adapt well to the urban environment, tolerating pollution and confined soil spaces.{{cite web |title=Ginkgo biloba 'Autumn Gold' |author1=Gilman, Edward F. |author2=Dennis G. Watson |year=1993 |publisher=US Forest Service |url=https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/GINBILB.pdf |access-date=29 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410060540/http://hort.ufl.edu/trees/GINBILB.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2008}} They rarely have disease problems, even in urban conditions, and are attacked by few insects.{{cite book |author=Boland, Timothy |author2=Laura E. Coit |author3=Marty Hair |url=https://archive.org/details/michigangardener0000bola |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/michigangardener0000bola/page/199 199] |quote=ginkgo tree disease. |title=Michigan Gardener's Guide |publisher=Cool Springs Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-930604-20-9}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sustland.umn.edu/design/insect.htm |title=Examples of Plants with Insect and Disease Tolerance |website=SULIS - Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series |publisher=University of Minnesota |access-date=29 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313232532/http://www.sustland.umn.edu/design/insect.htm |archive-date=13 March 2008}}

Ginkgos are popular subjects for growing as miniature landscapes known as penjing and bonsai;{{cite web |first=Mark |last=D'Cruz |title=Ma-Ke Bonsai Care Guide for Ginkgo biloba |date=15 April 2020 |publisher=Ma-Ke Bonsai |url=https://www.makebonsai.com/post/maiden-hair-tree |access-date=2021-02-04}} they can be kept artificially small and tended over centuries. The trees are easy to propagate from seed.

Extreme examples of the ginkgo's tenacity may be seen in Hiroshima, Japan, where six trees growing between {{convert|1 and 2|km|mi|frac=4|abbr=off}} from the 1945 atom bomb explosion were among the few living organisms in the area to survive the blast. Although almost all other plants (and animals) in the area were killed, the ginkgos, though charred, survived and were soon healthy again, among other hibakujumoku (trees that survived the blast).{{Cite web |title=Seeds from Hiroshima atomic bomb ‘survivor trees’ planted at Oxford Botanic Garden |url=https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/article/seeds-from-hiroshima-atomic-bomb-survivor-trees-planted-at-oxford-botanic-garden |access-date=2024-11-04 |website=www.obga.ox.ac.uk |language=en}}

The six trees are still alive: They are marked with signs at {{nihongo|Housenbou|報専坊}} temple (planted in 1850), Shukkei-en (planted about 1740), Jōsei-ji (planted 1900), at the former site of Senda Elementary School near Miyukibashi, at the Myōjōin temple, and an Edo period-cutting at Anraku-ji temple.{{cite web |title=A-bombed Ginkgo trees in Hiroshima, Japan |url=https://kwanten.home.xs4all.nl/hiroshima.htm |website=The Ginkgo Pages}}

File:Ginkgo-reborn-2.jpg

At the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's shrine in the city of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, an ancient ginkgo tree stands beside the stone entry staircase. According to legend, the tree has stood there since the founding of the shrine circa 1063.{{cite web |title=10-The Great Ginkgo大銀杏 |url=http://www.tsurugaoka-hachimangu.jp/precinct_guide/the_great_ginkgo.html |website=Tsurugaoka Hachimangu |access-date=5 May 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505135232/http://www.tsurugaoka-hachimangu.jp/precinct_guide/the_great_ginkgo.html }} The tree is nicknamed kakure-ichō (hiding ginkgo), because of an Edo period legend in which shōgun Minamoto no Sanetomo was assassinated in 1219 by his nephew, Kugyō, who had hidden behind the tree to ambush the shōgun.

Modern scholarship has established that ginkgos arrived from China in the 14th century, and a 1990 tree-ring measurement indicated the kakure-ichō's age to be about 500 years.

On 10 March 2010, the tree blew down in a storm, but the stump has since sprouted vigorously.

The grounds of the Buddhist temple at Gu Guanyin in the Zhongnan Mountains feature a ginkgo tree reputed to be 1,400 years old.{{cite web |title=A Genetic Elixir of Life Helps Millennia-Old Ginkgo Trees Escape Death |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/thousands-year-old-ginkgo-trees-genetic-elixir-life-180974004/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |access-date=7 October 2023}}{{cite web |title=This Buddhist temple's 1,400-year-old ginkgo tree is dropping a sea of yellow |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/this-buddhist-temple-s-1-400yearold-ginkgo-tree-is-dropping-a-sea-of-yellow-a6749676.html |website=The Independent |date=27 November 2015 |access-date=7 October 2023}} The tree itself is a popular tourist attraction.

Since 2016, G. biloba extract is classified as a possible human carcinogen (group 2B) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.{{cite web |title=IARC Monographs on the Identification of Carcinogenic Hazards to Humans |url=https://monographs.iarc.who.int/list-of-classifications/ |access-date=27 April 2023 |publisher=World Health Organization}}

When eaten in large quantities or over a long period, the seeds may cause poisoning by ginkgotoxin (4'-O-methylpyridoxine, MPN), as found in a few case reports.{{cite journal |last1=Azuma |first1=Fumika |last2=Nokura |first2=Kazuya |last3=Kako |first3=Tetsuharu |last4=Kobayashi |first4=Daisuke |last5=Yoshimura |first5=Teruki |last6=Wada |first6=Keiji |date=2020-06-15 |title=An Adult Case of Generalized Convulsions Caused by the Ingestion of Ginkgo biloba Seeds with Alcohol |journal=Internal Medicine |volume=59 |issue=12 |pages=1555–1558 |doi=10.2169/internalmedicine.4196-19 |issn=0918-2918 |pmc=7364239 |pmid=32132337}}{{cite journal |last1=Kajiyama |first1=Y. |last2=Fujii |first2=K. |last3=Takeuchi |first3=H. |last4=Manabe |first4=Y. |date=2 February 2002 |title=Ginkgo seed poisoning |journal=Pediatrics |volume=109 |issue=2 |pages=325–327 |doi=10.1542/peds.109.2.325 |pmid=11826216}} A heat-stable compound not destroyed by cooking, MPN may cause convulsions, which were alleviated by treatment with pyridoxine phosphate (vitamin B6), according to limited studies.

Some people are sensitive to the chemicals in the sarcotesta, the outer fleshy coating. These people should handle the seeds with care when preparing the seeds for consumption, wearing disposable gloves. The symptoms are allergic contact dermatitis,{{cite journal |last1=Lepoittevin |first1=J.-P. |last2=Benezra |first2=C. |last3=Asakawa |first3=Y. |year=1989 |title=Allergic contact dermatitis to Ginkgo biloba L.: relationship with urushiol |journal=Archives of Dermatological Research |volume=281 |issue=4 |pages=227–30 |doi=10.1007/BF00431055 |pmid=2774654 |s2cid=24855206}}{{cite journal |last1=Schötz |first1=Karl |year=2004 |title=Quantification of allergenic urushiols in extracts ofGinkgo biloba leaves, in simple one-step extracts and refined manufactured material (EGb 761) |journal=Phytochemical Analysis |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1–8 |bibcode=2004PChAn..15....1S |doi=10.1002/pca.733 |pmid=14979519}} or blisters similar to that caused by contact with poison ivy.{{cite web |title=Ginkgo |url=https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-ginkgo/art-20362032 |access-date=26 December 2020 |publisher=Mayo Clinic}}

Side effects of using ginkgo supplements may include increased risk of bleeding, gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, dizziness, heart palpitations, and restlessness. Although use of standardized Ginkgo biloba leaf extracts in moderate amounts appears to be safe, excessive use may have undesirable effects, especially in terms of drug interactions. The dosing of anticoagulants, such as warfarin or antiplatelet medication, may be adversely affected by using ginkgo supplements.

According to a systemic review, the effects of ginkgo on pregnant women may include increased bleeding time, and there is inadequate information about safety during lactation.{{cite journal |last1=Dugoua |first1=JJ |last2=Mills |first2=E |last3=Perri |first3=D |last4=Koren |first4=G |date=2006 |title=Safety and efficacy of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) during pregnancy and lactation |journal=The Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=e277-84 |pmid=17085776}}

Ginkgo pollen may produce allergic reactions. Ginkgo biloba leaves and sarcotesta contain ginkgolic acids{{cite journal |author=Xian-guo |display-authors=et al |year=2000 |title=High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry Study of Ginkgolic Acid in the Leaves and Fruits of the Ginkgo Tree (Ginkgo biloba) |journal=Journal of Chromatographic Science |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=169–173 |doi=10.1093/chromsci/38.4.169 |pmid=10766484 |doi-access=free}} {{ndash}} which are highly allergenic {{ndash}} long-chain alkylphenols, such as bilobol or adipostatin A{{cite journal |last1=Tanaka |first1=A |last2=Arai |first2=Y |last3=Kim |first3=SN |last4=Ham |first4=J |last5=Usuki |first5=T |year=2011 |title=Synthesis and biological evaluation of bilobol and adipostatin A |journal=Journal of Asian Natural Products Research |volume=13 |issue=4 |pages=290–296 |doi=10.1080/10286020.2011.554828 |pmid=21462031 |s2cid=25305504}} (bilobol is a substance related to anacardic acid from cashew nut shells and urushiols present in poison ivy and other Toxicodendron spp.) Individuals with a history of strong allergic reactions to poison ivy, mangoes, cashews and other alkylphenol-producing plants are more likely to experience an allergic reaction when consuming non-standardized ginkgo-containing preparations. The level of these allergens in standardized pharmaceutical preparations from Ginkgo biloba was restricted to 5 ppm by the Commission E of the former Federal German Health Authority. Overconsumption of seeds from Ginkgo biloba can deplete vitamin B₆.{{cite journal |last1=Kobayashi |first1=Daisuke |year=2019 |title=Food poisoning by Ginkgo seeds through vitamin B₆ depletion (article in Japanese) |journal=Yakugaku Zasshi |volume=139 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1248/yakushi.18-00136 |issn=0031-6903 |pmid=30606915 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Wada |first1=Keiji |last2=Ishigaki |first2=Seikou |last3=Ueda |first3=Kaori |last4=Sakata |first4=Masakatsu |last5=Haga |first5=Masanobu |year=1985 |title=An antivitamin B6, 4'-methoxypyridoxine, from the seed of Ginkgo biloba L. |journal=Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin |volume=33 |issue=8 |pages=3555–3557 |doi=10.1248/cpb.33.3555 |issn=0009-2363 |pmid=4085085 |doi-access=free}}

The wood of Ginkgo biloba is used to make furniture, chessboards, carving, and casks for making saké; the wood is fire-resistant and slow to decay.

File:Ginkgo biloba 007.jpg

File:Ginkgo Seed.JPG

File:Ginkgo and coconut dessert.jpg

Despite the health risks in certain cases, the nut-like kernels of the seeds are esteemed in Asia, and are a traditional ingredient in Chinese food. Ginkgo nuts are used in congee, and are often served at special occasions such as weddings and the Chinese New Year (as part of the vegetarian dish called Buddha's delight). Japanese cooks add ginkgo seeds (called ginnan) to dishes such as chawanmushi, and cooked seeds are often eaten along with other dishes. Grilled ginkgo nuts with salt are also a popular item at izakayas as a snack with beer and other Japanese food.{{cite web | url=https://wattention.com/a-taste-of-shun-nuts-over-ginko/ | title=A Taste of Sh旬n: Going Nuts for Ginkgo | date=3 April 2018 }} In Korea, ginkgo nuts are stir-fried and eaten, or are used to garnish foods such as sinseonro.{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Seong-woo |title=은행(銀杏) Fruit of the Ginkgo tree |url=https://encykorea.aks.ac.kr/Article/E0042928 |access-date=2023-11-06 |website=Encyclopedia of Korean Culture |language=ko}}

Although extracts of Ginkgo biloba leaf are often marketed as cognitive enhancers, there is no evidence for effects on memory or attention in healthy people.{{cite journal |vauthors=Laws KR, Sweetnam H, Kondel TK |title=Is Ginkgo biloba a cognitive enhancer in healthy individuals? A meta-analysis |journal=Hum Psychopharmacol |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=527–533 |date=1 November 2012 |pmid=23001963 |doi=10.1002/hup.2259 |s2cid=6307491 |type=Meta-analysis}} Systematic reviews have shown there is no evidence for effectiveness of ginkgo in treating high blood pressure,{{cite journal |vauthors=Xiong XJ, Liu W, Yang XC, etal |title=Ginkgo biloba extract for essential hypertension: A systemic review |journal=Phytomedicine |volume=21 |issue=10 |pages=1131–1136 |date=September 2014 |pmid=24877716 |doi=10.1016/j.phymed.2014.04.024 |type=Systematic review |doi-access=free}} menopause-related cognitive decline,{{cite journal |last1=Clement |first1=YN |last2=Onakpoya |first2=I |last3=Hung |first3=SK |last4=Ernst |first4=E |title=Effects of herbal and dietary supplements on cognition in menopause: a systematic review |journal=Maturitas |date=March 2011 |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=256–263 |doi=10.1016/j.maturitas.2010.12.005 |pmid=21237589 |type=Systematic review}} tinnitus,{{cite journal |last1=Hilton |first1=MP |last2=Zimmermann |first2=EF |last3=Hunt |first3=WT |title=Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |date=28 March 2013 |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=CD003852 |pmid=23543524 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD003852.pub3 |s2cid=205171459 |type=Systematic review|doi-access=free |pmc=11669941 }}{{cite journal |last1=Sereda |first1=Magdalena |last2=Xia |first2=Jun |last3=Scutt |first3=Polly |last4=Hilton |first4=Malcolm P |last5=El Refaie |first5=Amr |last6=Hoare |first6=Derek J |title=Ginkgo biloba for tinnitus |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |date=16 November 2022 |volume=2022 |issue=11 |pages=CD013514 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD013514.pub2|pmid=36383762 |pmc=9668350 }} post-stroke recovery,{{cite journal |vauthors=Zeng X, Liu M, Yang Y, Li Y, Asplund K |title=Ginkgo biloba for acute ischaemic stroke |journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |issue=4 |pages=CD003691 |year=2005 |volume=2005 |pmid=16235335 |pmc=6991933 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD003691.pub2 |type=Systematic review}} or altitude sickness.{{cite journal |last1=Seupaul |first1=RA |last2=Welch |first2=JL |last3=Malka |first3=ST |last4=Emmett |first4=TW |title=Pharmacologic prophylaxis for acute mountain sickness: A systematic shortcut review |journal=Annals of Emergency Medicine |date=April 2012 |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=307–317.e1 |pmid=22153998 |doi=10.1016/j.annemergmed.2011.10.015|s2cid=205542308 }}

There is weak preliminary evidence for ginkgo affecting dementia{{cite journal |last1=Fan |first1=F |last2=Liu |first2=H |last3=Shi |first3=X |last4=Ai |first4=Y |last5=Liu |first5=Q |last6=Cheng |first6=Y |title=The Efficacy and Safety of Alzheimer's Disease Therapies: An Updated Umbrella Review. |journal=Journal of Alzheimer's Disease|date=2022 |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=1195–1204 |doi=10.3233/JAD-215423 |pmid=34924395|s2cid=245311001 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Savaskan |first1=Egemen |last2=Mueller |first2=Heiko |last3=Hoerr |first3=Robert |last4=von Gunten |first4=Armin |last5=Gauthier |first5=Serge |date=2018-03-01 |title=Treatment effects of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761® on the spectrum of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |journal=International Psychogeriatrics |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=285–293 |doi=10.1017/S1041610217001892 |issn=1741-203X |pmid=28931444}}{{cite journal |last1=Yuan |first1=Qiuju |last2=Wang |first2=Chong-wen |last3=Shi |first3=Jun |last4=Lin |first4=Zhi-xiu |title=Effects of Ginkgo biloba on dementia: An overview of systematic reviews |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |date=January 2017 |volume=195 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2016.12.005 |pmid=27940086}} and tardive dyskinesia symptoms in people with schizophrenia.{{cite journal |last1=Zheng |first1=W. |last2=Xiang |first2=Y.-Q. |last3=Ng |first3=C. |last4=Ungvari |first4=G. |last5=Chiu |first5=H. |last6=Xiang |first6=Y.-T. |title=Extract of Ginkgo biloba for tardive dyskinesia: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials |journal=Pharmacopsychiatry |volume=49 |issue=3 |date=2016-03-15 |issn=0176-3679 |pmid=26979525 |doi=10.1055/s-0042-102884 |pages=107–111|s2cid=36484519 }}

Ginkgo has been used in traditional Chinese medicine since at least the 11th century CE.{{cite book |last1=Crane |first1=Peter R. |title=Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot |date=2013 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven |isbn=978-0-300-21382-9 |page=242 |quote=According to some sources, the medicinal use of ginkgo dates back to 2800 B.C.… However, the first undisputed written records of ginkgo come much later… Ginkgo first appears in copies of the Shen Nung pharmacopeia around the eleventh and twelfth centuries.}} Ginkgo seeds, leaves, and nuts have traditionally been used to treat various ailments, such as dementia, asthma, bronchitis, and kidney and bladder disorders. However, there is no conclusive evidence that ginkgo is useful for any of these conditions.{{cite book |last1=Faran |first1=Mina |last2=Tcherni |first2=Anna |title=Medicinal herbs in Modern Medicine (ṣimḥei marpé bir'fū'ah ha-modernīt) |volume=1 |publisher=Akademon (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) |date=1997 |location=Jerusalem |pages=77–78 |language=he |oclc=233179155 |isbn=965-350-068-6}}, s.v. Ginkgo biloba

The European Medicines Agency Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products concluded that medicines containing ginkgo leaf can be used for treating mild age-related dementia and mild peripheral vascular disease in adults after serious conditions have been excluded by a physician.{{cite web |title=Ginkgo folium |date=3 August 2015 |url=https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/herbal/ginkgo-folium |publisher=European Medicines Agency |access-date=11 May 2021}}

File:PrefSymbol-Tokyo.svg, Japan's capital, representing a ginkgo leaf]]

The ginkgo leaf is the symbol of the Urasenke school of Japanese tea ceremony. The tree is the official tree of the Japanese capital of Tokyo, and the symbol of Tokyo is a ginkgo leaf. Since 1948, the badge of Tokyo University has been two ginkgo leaves (designed by Shoichi Hoshino), which became the university logo in 2004 with a redesign.{{cite web |url=https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/about/public-relations/b01_05_01.html |title=東大マーク |website=東京大学}} The logo of Osaka University has been a simplified ginkgo leaf since 1991 when designer Ikko Tanaka created it for the university's sixtieth anniversary.{{cite web |title=The official logo of Osaka University |url=https://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/en/guide/logos |access-date=18 June 2019}}

In professional sumo, wrestlers ranked in the two highest divisions ({{Transliteration|ja|jūryō}} and {{Transliteration|ja|makuuchi}}) wear an elaborate topknot called {{Nihongo|{{Transliteration|ja|ōichōmage}}|大銀杏髷||{{lit|ginkgo-leaf topknot}}}} because it resembles the leaf of the ginkgo tree.{{cite book|last=Cuyler |first=Patricia Lee |date=1979 |title=Sumo: From rite to sport |url=https://archive.org/details/sumofromritetosp0000cuyl/mode/2up |url-access=registration |publisher=New York: Weatherhill |isbn=9780834801455|page=139}}

Ginkgo is an official tree of Seoul since 1971, designated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government.{{Cite web |title=Tree, Flower & Bird - |url=https://english.seoul.go.kr/seoul-views/seoul-symbols/4-tree-flower-bird/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |website=Official Website of the |language=en-US}}

File:Ginkgo Tree Ginkgo biloba Trunk Bark 2000px.jpg|Trunk bark

File:Ginkgo-biloba-male.JPG|Ginkgo pollen-bearing cones

File:Ginko bud.jpg|Bud in spring

File:GingkoFruitingTwigSpring.jpg|Ovules ready for fertilization

File:Ginkgo embryo and gametophyte.jpg|Female gametophyte, dissected from a seed freshly shed from the tree, containing a well-developed embryo

File:Ginkgo biloba0.jpg|Immature ginkgo ovules and leaves

File:Gingko fg01.jpg|Autumn leaves and fallen seeds

File:GinkgoSaplings.jpg|A forest of saplings sprout among last year's seeds

File:2014-11-02 12 06 44 Ginkgo during autumn at the Ewing Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ewing, New Jersey.jpg|Ginkgo tree in autumn

File:2014-11-02 12 13 29 Ginkgo foliage and fruit during autumn at the Ewing Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Ewing, New Jersey.JPG|Seeds on tree

File:Ginko biloba leaves.jpg|Ginkgo biloba leaves

File:Ginkgo biloba. filare.jpg|Ginkgo in autumn in Florence (Italy)

File:HUEB in Fall.jpg|Several golden ginkgos in Hebei, China

File:03-Stack_176_Ginkgo_40x_obj_leaf_print.jpg|leaf print showing sunken stomata on underside of Ginkgo biloba leaf

• André Michaux, introduced the ginkgo to North America{{cite news |last1=Huxley |first1=Anthony |title=He Gave Us the Gingko |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/09/books/he-gave-us-the-gingko.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=17 August 2015 |date=1987-08-09}}
• Bartheletia paradoxa, a unique species of fungus that grows exclusively on Ginkgo leaves
• Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park in central Washington, United States
• Herbalism
• List of edible seeds

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite journal

|url=https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jjapbot/91/suppl/91_91_suppl_10725/_article

|journal=The Journal of Japanese Botany

|volume=91

|last1=Nagata

|last2=Hasebe

|last3=Toriba

|last4=Taneda

|last5=Crane

|title=Sex Conversion in Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgoaceae)

|doi=10.51033/jjapbot.91_suppl_10725

|pages=120–127

|year=2016

}}

{{cite web

|url=https://www.osgf.org/blog/2017/11/7/blandy-ginkgo

|title=Ginkgo: A Sexual Curiosity

|website=Oak Spring Garden Foundation

|access-date=2024-10-21

|date=2017-11-07

}}

}}

{{Wikispecies|Ginkgo biloba}}

{{Commons}}

{{Scholia|topic}}

• [https://www.conifers.org/gi/Ginkgoaceae.php Ginkgoopsida, Ginkgoales, Ginkgoaceae, Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) description], The Gymnosperm Database
• [https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Ginkgo+biloba Ginkgo biloba information], Plants for a Future Plant Database
• [https://uses.plantnet-project.org/en/Ginkgo_biloba Ginkgo biloba], PlantUse English

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biloba

Category:CYP3A4 inhibitors

Category:Dioecious plants

Category:Edible plants

Category:Endangered plants

Category:Endemic flora of China

Category:Extant Ypresian first appearances

Category:Flora of Zhejiang

Category:Garden plants of Asia

Category:Medicinal plants of Asia

Category:Plants used in bonsai

Category:Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

Category:Trees of China

Category:Plants described in 1771

Category:Trees