Scientific Name
Other Names
Life Form
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Family
Medicine - It has been used as a traditional medicine for centuries in China for memory, circulation, and other ailments. has environmental uses and for food.
China
It thrives in temperate climates with well-drained soil at altitudes of 1000 to 3000 m asl. Originally widespread, it is now grown primarily in cultivated settings.
The tree that outlived the dinosaurs, known for its ancient lineage and distinctive fan-shaped leaves.
It is a deciduous tree reaching 20-30 m tall.
Bark is rough and fissured with age, becoming a characteristic gray-brown color. The branching pattern is dichotomous, meaning branches split into two roughly equal parts.
Leaves are fan-shaped, with a unique bilobed form and slightly notched apex. They are bright green in spring and summer, turning golden yellow before falling in autumn. Leaves are typically 5-10 cm wide and borne on long stalks.
It is dioecious, meaning male and female cones appear on separate trees. Male cones are small, yellow catkins that release pollen for wind dispersal. Solitary female ovules borne on stalks are not enclosed in a cone.
The fruit is a fleshy drupe, resembling a plum, with a single seed inside. The fruit is yellow-orange when mature and has a strong, unpleasant odor.
Male cone: March-April Female ovule: March-April Fruit: October-November