THE FOSSIL HISTORY OF GINKGO LINNAEUS

The Ginkgophytes are an ancient group of plants which are believed to have existed during the Early Permian and are represented today by a single monotypic genus Ginkgo biloba L. Although, there is a rich fossil record of Ginkgo and Ginkgo like leaves but their reproductive structures are relatively rare and this has made our ability to trace the evolutionary history of Ginkgo, a bit difficult. The cladistic analysis suggest that Ginkgoales is a monophyletic group that includes Trichopitys, Polyspermophyllum, Karkenia, Toretzia, Umaltolepis, Yimaia, Grenanaand Ginkgo.