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Why is the ginkgo considered a relic among living trees?

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Tall giant sequoia trees with reddish bark and thick trunks rise closely together in a dense forest at Sequoia National Park, California. — Tree A stand of giant sequoia trees (*Sequoiadendron giganteum*) in Sequoia National Park, California.

The Ginkgo biloba is considered a "living fossil" or a relic because it is the sole surviving representative of the order Ginkgoales, a group that once included approximately 15 genera dating back to the Permian Period (about 298.9 million to 251.9 million years ago).1

While other members of the division Ginkgophyta, such as the extinct genera Ginkgoites and Baiera, have disappeared from the earth, the Ginkgo has persisted for roughly 250 million years with physical characteristics—such as its distinctive fan-shaped leaves and dichotomous venation—that remain remarkably similar to those found in the fossil record.231

Furthermore, the ginkgo is biologically unique among modern seed-producing plants; along with cycads, it is one of the only plants that possesses motile, flagellated sperm. Because it has survived for such an immense span of geological time with little morphological change, it serves as a rare, living link to ancient botanical history.321