A Living Fossil Under My Foldscope: Ginkgo biloba
Jul 01, 2025 • 10:15 AM UTC
Finland
140x Magnification
Plants
Dr Rafikh Shaikh
I'm a science educator interested in everything science.
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Here is an account of my amazing experience. Recently, I went to Helsinki, Finland, to attend a conference. As a habit, I checked if the city had a botanical garden. Then, I went to visit it with my colleague, Dr. Shamin Padalkar.
We saw an amazing collection of plants. The botanical garden was beautifully designed and very well maintained.
What made our day was spotting a very special plant — Ginkgo biloba . This plant is often called a "living fossil." It is a gymnosperm. That means its seeds are not covered by flesh, like an apple or a mango. The Ginkgo was on Earth when dinosaurs were still roaming. Today, it is not only the only member of its genus, but also of its family and order. All of its close relatives are now extinct.
What made our day was spotting a very special plant — Ginkgo biloba . This plant is often called a "living fossil." It is a gymnosperm. That means its seeds are not covered by flesh, like an apple or a mango. The Ginkgo was on Earth when dinosaurs were still roaming. Today, it is not only the only member of its genus, but also of its family and order. All of its close relatives are now extinct.
I took this chance to take out my Foldscope and look at its leaf. Looking at its leaf is like looking at a plant leaf from around 170 million years ago. Amazing, right?
I am sharing some images of what I saw. You can see the leaf cells and even some stomata. Look at how small the stomata are. They are tiny — somewhere around 50 microns in length.
I am sharing some images of what I saw. You can see the leaf cells and even some stomata. Look at how small the stomata are. They are tiny — somewhere around 50 microns in length.
What do you think about this?
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