Ginkgo biloba is known as a “living fossil” and is the only surviving species of its ginkgo lineage.
Ginkgo biloba is a distinctive tree with fan-shaped leaves and reproductive biology unlike that of most familiar seed plants. Fossils show that ginkgo relatives were widespread much earlier in geological history, but Ginkgo biloba is the only living species in the genus Ginkgo and the family Ginkgoaceae.
The species is dioecious: individual trees are usually male or female. Female trees produce seeds with a fleshy outer covering that can develop an unpleasant odor when it falls and decays. The seeds are not botanically fruits because ginkgoes are gymnosperms.
The tree survived in cultivation in China and was later introduced widely elsewhere. “Living fossil” does not mean unchanged; like all living organisms, ginkgo has evolved. The phrase highlights its distinctive ancient lineage and the survival of a single modern species.