A unique deciduous tree with distinctive fan-shaped leaves and fleshy seeds, representing the sole surviving member of an ancient group of gymnosperms. Ginkgos are often called living fossils, virtually unchanged for 200 million years.
From Japanese 'ginkyo', meaning silver apricot, referring to the silvery nuts. The name was introduced to Western botany in the 18th century by German botanist Engelbert Kaempfer, though he misspelled it as 'ginkgo', which became the accepted scientific name.
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