Ancient Ginko Trees and the Atom Bomb
by: lucyevans44
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Word Count: 403
In today`s world you will find it very difficult to come across examples of living fossils. Living fossil is a term used by scientists which means living animals and plants that are largely unaltered from the fossilised remains of their predecessors. A few examples that are still in evidence are those of the alligator and crocodile that have been around allegedly for 200 million years. There is however something that even beats the crocodile and alligator, and that comes in the form of a species of tree called the Ginko Biloba, which has survived for 270 million years. If that`s not amazing itself, it might not have existed on the earth for thousands of years if it wasn`t for human intervention.
European scientists had the notion that like the rest of the Ginko family, the Ginko Biloba was also extinct. However all this was to change when Englebert Kaempfer, a German scientist and explorer travelled to Japan in 1691. On his expedition he would often visit monasteries, and here in the grounds he would discover Ginko trees which were cultivated for their medicinal properties. In 1693 Englebert Kaempfer left Japan to return to Europe and gave a number of seeds from the Ginko trees to the Utrecht botanical gardens.
One key factor that the Ginko tree has, that has undoubtedly helped it is that it has a high resistance to diseases, and because of that it is belived that some trees have lived for over 2,500 years. The Ginko is unknown in most parts of the world and more-so in the wild. Nevertheless it has recently been found growing in the wild in Zhejiang, a province in China, but it is now believed that they were planted there due to limited diversity in the Zhejiang population.
The Ginko is a tough tree and you can`t really imagine how a tree so strong has to rely on human intervention to make it successful. Even more-so if you consider that there are four Ginko trees in Hiroshima that survived the atom bomb blast despite being only two kilometres away from the blast area.
One of the main factors that have allowed the Ginko tree to be successful is that it is used widely in traditional oriental medicines. The future also looks promisingfor the Ginko tree as there are now claims that it helps with the central nervous system, with studies being undertaken to asses its appropriateness for Alzheimer`s sufferers.
About the Author
Lucy is a freelance journalist working on behalf of Goldshield Ginko.
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