Editing Ginkgo biloba (section)

== Taxonomy ==
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 language|Japanese]] as イチョウ ({{transliteration|ja|ichou}}) or ぎんなん ({{transliteration|ja|ginnan}}) and into [[Korean language|Korean]] as 은행 ({{transliteration|ko|eunhaeng}}).

[[Carl Linnaeus]] described the species in 1771, the [[species name|specific epithet]] ''biloba'' derived from the [[Latin]] ''bis'', "twice" and ''loba'', "lobed", referring to the shape of the leaves.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Two names for the species recognise the botanist [[Richard Anthony Salisbury|Richard Salisbury]], a placement by Nelson as ''Pterophyllus salisburiensis''<!-- !? --> and the earlier ''Salisburia adiantifolia'' proposed by [[James Edward Smith (botanist)|James Edward Smith]]. The epithet of the latter may have been intended to denote a characteristic resembling ''[[Adiantum]]'', the genus of maidenhair ferns.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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 [[Western world|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".<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 of Japanese|romanization]] following his writing habits would have been "ginkio" or "ginkjo".<ref name=michel/> Linnaeus, who relied on Kaempfer when dealing with Japanese plants, adopted the spelling given in Kaempfer's "Flora Japonica" (''Amoenitates Exoticae'', p.&nbsp;811). Kaempfer's drawing can be found in Hori's article.<ref name="Hori-2001"/>

===Classification===
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 (botany)|ovary]] wall, it can morphologically be considered a [[gymnosperm]]. The apricot-like structures produced by female ginkgo trees are technically not [[fruit]]s, 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

The ginkgo is classified in its own [[division (botany)|division]], the Ginkgophyta, comprising the single class Ginkgoopsida, order Ginkgoales, family [[Ginkgoaceae]], genus ''[[Ginkgo]]'' and is the only [[extant taxon|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]].<ref name=ZhouZheng>{{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}}</ref><ref name="ucmp">{{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]]
}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Ginkgo yimaensis.jpg|Extinct ''[[Ginkgo yimaensis]]''<ref name=Bego>Approximate 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.&nbsp;1–2, pp.&nbsp;60–61.</ref>
File:Ginkgo apodes.jpg|Extinct ''[[Ginkgo apodes|G.&nbsp;apodes]]''<ref name=Bego/>
File:Ginkgo cranei.jpg|Extinct ''[[Ginkgo adiantoides]]'', or possibly a new US taxon, ''[[Ginkgo cranei|G.&nbsp;cranei]]''<ref name=Bego/>
File:Ginkgo biloba (new form).jpg|Extant ''G. biloba''<ref name=Bego/>
</gallery>

===Phylogeny===
[[File:Baiera.jpg|thumb|A digital recreation of ''Baiera'' made from diverse images of fossils and academic descriptions]]

''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.<ref name="Zhou-2009">{{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=}}</ref> The closest living relatives of the [[clade]] are the [[cycads]],<ref name=royer/>{{rp|84}} which share with the extant ''G. biloba'' the characteristic of [[motility|motile]] sperm.

Such plants with leaves that have more than four [[leaf#Veins|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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref>

====Rise and decline====
[[File:Ginkgo biloba MacAbee BC.jpg|thumb|''Ginkgo biloba'' leaf from the [[Eocene]] 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]].<ref name="Zhou-2009"/>

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.<ref name=royer/>{{rp|93}}

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

====Limited number of species====
[[File:Fossil Plant Ginkgo.jpg|thumb|Fossil ''Ginkgo'' leaves from a [[Jurassic]] period [[geological formation|formation]] in [[Scarborough, North Yorkshire|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.&nbsp;biloba'' (including ''G.&nbsp;adiantoides'') and ''[[Ginkgo gardneri|G.&nbsp;gardneri]]'' from the [[Paleocene]] of [[Scotland]].<ref name=royer/>{{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 [[ecotype]]s or [[subspecies]]. The implications would be that ''G. biloba'' had occurred over an extremely wide range, had remarkable genetic flexibility and, though [[evolution|evolving]] genetically, never showed much [[speciation]].<ref>{{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 }}</ref><ref>{{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 }}</ref>

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).<ref name=royer/>{{rp|91}}

====Adaptation to a single environment====
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 [[fern]]s, [[cycad]]s, and [[Bennettitales|cycadeoids]] dominated disturbed streamside environments, forming low, open, shrubby canopies. ''Ginkgo''{{'s}} large seeds and habit of "bolting" – growing to a height of 10&nbsp;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,<ref name=royer/>{{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 [[disturbance (ecology)|disturbed environments]], such as along streams.<ref name=royer/> ''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).<ref name=royer/>{{rp|92}}

===Etymology===
The genus name is regarded as a misspelling of the [[On'yomi|Japanese pronunciation]] {{Transliteration|ja|gin kyō}} ({{IPA|ja|ɡiŋkʲoː|}}) for the [[kanji]] {{Nihongo2|銀杏}} meaning "[[silver]] [[apricot]]",<ref name="Coom94">{{Citation|last=Coombes|first=Allen J.|title=Dictionary of Plant Names|year=1994|location=London|publisher=Hamlyn Books|isbn=978-0-600-58187-1}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Hori-2001">T. Hori, A historical survey of Ginkgo biloba based on Japanese and Chinese classical literatures, Plant Morphology, 2001, 31, 31–40</ref>

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.<ref name="oxford">{{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]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster |ginkgo}}</ref>

[[Engelbert Kaempfer]] first introduced the spelling ''ginkgo'' in his book {{Langx|la|Amoenitatum Exoticarum|label=none}} of 1712.<ref name=Kaempfer>{{cite book
| last = Kaempfer | first = Engelbert | author-link = Engelbert Kaempfer
| date = 1712
| title = Amoenitatum exoticarum
| location = [[Lemgo]]viae
| publisher = Typis & impensis Henrici Wilhelmi Meyeri, aulae Lippiacae typographi
| pages = 811–813
| language = la
| url = https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55640517
}} (with illustration)</ref> 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}}<ref>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]</ref> and has become the name of the tree's genus.<ref name=michel>{{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}}</ref><ref name=oxford/> The specific epithet {{Langx|la|biloba|label=none}} is New Latin for "two-lobed".