Ginkgophyta- Ginkgo biloba
The plants found in Phylum Ginkgophyta have leaves similar in shape to the maidenhair fern. The heteropsorous vascular seeds are borne in pairs on dwarf shoots. The sperm is flagellated and motile but conducted to the vicinity of the egg by a pollen tube, just like the plants in the Phylum Cycadophyta.
Today, Phylum Ginkgophyta is represented by deciduous trees with fan-shaped leaves that have evenly forking veins. The seeds resemble a small plum with fleshy, ill-scented outer covering. The Phylum Cycadophyta is also represented by deciduous trees with distinctive fan-shaped leaves, branches with numerous spur shoots that bear the reproductive structures, and stems with extensive secondary growth producing considerable secondary xylem.
The Phylum is represented by only one living species, Ginkgo biloba which is restricted to China were it may be extinct in the wild. The tree is very useful as a street tree as it is tolerant of city polluted air.
The one living species of the Phylum Ginkgophyta is the Ginkgo biloba.
Ginkgophyta- Ginkgo huttonii
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Division ginkgophyta. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.esu.edu/~milewski/intro_biol_two/lab_3_seed_plts/Ginkgophyta.html
