Classic Ginkgo Fossil Leaf

Description: This is an exceptional example of a leaf of a Ginkgo tree. This one comes from a location where most specimens are quite fragmentary, and difficult to collect as a consequence. I obtained this one from an old collection, and have no other examples. The Ginkgophyta probably originated about the same time as the Cycads during the late Paleozoic. The fan-shaped leaves of most members are quite distinctive. This is the oldest-known member of a genus still extant today, with Ginkgo biloba termed a “living fossil”.