ABSTRACT
Ginkgo biloba, which is not closely related to any other living plant, is generally classified in its own division, the Ginkgophyta. This taxon is distinguished from the Coniferophyta (conifers) on the basis of its reproductive structures, most notably its multiflagellated sperm cells, and from the Cycadophyta (cycads) on the basis of its vegetative anatomy (Wang and Chen, 1983; Gifford and Foster, 1987). Recent molecular analysis of the Ginkgo genome, while far from complete, suggests a much closer relationship to the cycads than to the conifers (Hasebe, 1997).
