Ginkgoaceae

Question 1

Ginkgo (GINKGO BOLIBA) Key features:

Answer 1

• Fertilization by free swimming sperm
• dioecious
• dichotomous venation (parallel to leaf margin and repeatedly splits in two)
• female trees produce odiferous fruit
• leaves, flowers, and fruit produced on short pins or spurs

Question 2

What’s novel about the pollination biology of ginkgo?

Answer 2

Fertilization by free swimming sperm

Question 3

What kind of leaf veination? Describe it.

Answer 3

• dichotomous venation (parallel to leaf margin and repeatedly splits in two)

Question 4

Distinguishing characteristic that might be negative

Answer 4

Produces ginkolic acid 1 which can induce allergic contact dermatitis (nasty rash)

Question 5

Health benefit attributed to it’s leaf extracts?

Answer 5

• approve blood flow to the brain
• modest improvement in memory in healthy people

Question 6

What is an example of the toughness exhibited by ginkgo in the landscape?

Answer 6

6 ginkgo trees survived atomic bomb blast in Hiroshima

Question 7

Whats the caveat to ginkgo “maleness” in the landscape?

Answer 7

Seedless ‘males’ may revert to seeded forms cause some plants can take 20-50 years to flower, juvenility, stress from the environment

Question 8

The fruits stink. What is another problem with the fruits?

Answer 8

Produces ginkolic acid 1 which can induce allergic contact dermatitis (nasty rash)