The Nikon MicroscopyU confocal microscopy image gallery was created with a PCM-2000 confocal scanning system interfaced to a Nikon Eclipse E600 upright microscope. Images were recorded in successive z-axis serial sections with C-Imaging Systems software with excitation illumination provided by an argon-ion and/or a helium-neon laser.

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With a name derived from the Chinese term for silver apricot, the wild Ginkgo biloba, the last remaining species from their dominance of the early and mid-Mesozoic (245-146 million years ago) forests, is believed extinct in the wild. The tree has changed little in morphology based on 200 million year-old fossils. The ginkgo is often cultivated as an ornamental tree, particularly in urban areas because it is resistant to smog.

Like its fellow gymnosperms (pines, cycads, and gnetophytes), the maidenhair tree is an ancient plant that produces seeds and exhibits a similar general anatomy and life cycle. However, this group is descriptive and not taxonomic, therefore not implying phylogeny in characteristics that may have evolved independently. The name gymnosperm implies "naked seeds"; that is, seeds that are not enclosed in a fruit or other structure. On average, Ginkgos and other gymnosperms have larger chromosomes than angiosperms (flowering plants).

Being dioecious, male and female gametophytes are produced on separate trees. Male trees produce small strobili composed of microsporophylls (or sporangia). The female analogue to the strobilus is the female cone, familiar in pine trees. The sporangia produce microspores. Pollen grains are composed of a few-celled microgametophyte with an environmentally resistant wall. Pollen is carried by the wind to female trees where the flagellated sperm is released on the paired, stalked ovules. While the reproduction of Ginkgo biloba is more similar to the cycads, the wood and leaves are closer to the conifers. After fertilization, the integument becomes very fleshy and loaded with butyric acid, which stinks like rancid butter. This may have evolved to deter seed predators and induces landscapers to plant only male trees.

Ginkgo biloba has great commercial value, not only in the ornamental horticultural industry, but also in the very popular alternative medicine movement. Extracts are believed by some to possess healing powers countering mental acuity diminishment associated and retinal degeneration that occurs with aging, because it is a potent antioxidant and free-radical scavenger.