''Ginkgo apodes'' is an extinct species of plant in the order Ginkgoales. It is known from fossils found in the

Yixian Formation The Yixian Formation (; formerly transcribed as Yihsien Formation) is a geological formation in Jinzhou, Liaoning, People's Republic of China, that spans the late Barremian and early Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. It is known for its ex ...

dated to the

Tithonian In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the K ...

period, from the Late

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

, located near Mount Yinwoshan, Yixian region,

Liaoning Province Liaoning () is a coastal provinces of China, province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The leaves of ''G. apodes'' are similar to those that are known in the rest of the representatives of the genus ''

Ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within ...

'', with a fan-shaped leaf characterized by finger-like lobes.

Description

The ovulate organs of ''G. apodes'' bear a cluster of up to 6

ovules In seed plants, the ovule is the structure that gives rise to and contains the female reproductive cells. It consists of three parts: the ''integument'', forming its outer layer, the ''nucellus'' (or remnant of the megasporangium), and the fe ...

that grow out from the apex of the peduncle. These fruits can have 1-3 seeds inside of them. ''G. apodes'' has been helpful in understanding Ginkgo evolution because it filled the gap between the Jurassic and

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

, and is morphologically between

Ginkgo yimaensis ''Ginkgo yimaensis'' is an extinct ginkgo species in the family Ginkgoaceae. It is a gymnosperm, first described by Zhou and Zhang. Description ''Ginkgo yimaensis'' differs from the extant '' G. biloba'' only slightly. The leaves were deeply di ...

and

Ginkgo biloba ''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...

Name

The name "Ginkgo" comes from its Japanese name, ''Gin an'' and ''Itsjò'', which means "silver apricot". This came from a transliteration made by

Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German naturalist, physician, explorer and writer known for his tour of Russia, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He wrote two books about his travels. ''A ...

, the first European to see ''Ginkgo biloba'' in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The name "apodes" comes from the Greek ''α-'' and ''-ποδ'', meaning ''apod'' or "without foot", in reference to the very short pedicels in the fruits. (The awkward "–kgo" spelling in "Ginkgo" appears to be an error Kaempfer made in his notes, a more precise romanization would have been "Ginkjo" or "Ginkio").

References

apodes Prehistoric trees {{jurassic-plant-stub