Dayi Ginkgo

Dayi Ginkgo

　　Dayi Ginkgo is one of the medicinal products from Dayi County. It offers dietary and therapeutic benefits such as nourishing lung qi, treating cough and wheezing, stopping leukorrhea and parasites, reducing frequent urination, smoothing skin wrinkles, protecting blood vessels, and increasing blood flow.

　　Introduction: Dayi Ginkgo is produced in Dayi County, located on the western edge of the Chengdu Plain in central-western Sichuan Province. The region has a subtropical monsoon humid climate. Ginkgo, also known as gingko or gongsun tree seeds, is about the size of an apricot kernel with a pure white color resembling jade. Its taste is sweet, bitter, and astringent, and overconsumption may cause diarrhea.

　　Morphological Features: Dayi Ginkgo is a deciduous tree that can grow up to 40 meters tall. Its trunk is straight with gray bark. Branches come in two types—short and long. Leaves grow in clusters on short branches, while on long branches they are alternate or spirally scattered. The fan-shaped leaves are 4–8 cm long and 5–10 cm wide, with shallowly wavy upper edges, shallow or deep notches in the middle at the tip, wedge-shaped base, and parallel veins with forked branches. The petiole is 2.5–7 cm long. Flowers are unisexual, with male and female flowers on separate trees, blooming at the same time as the leaves. Male flowers form drooping short catkins, with 4–6 borne in leaf axils or bract axils on short branches. They have numerous stamens with two-chambered anthers located at the top of short stalks. Female flowers grow in clusters of 2–3 on short branches, each with a long stalk that forks at the tip into two branches, each bearing one carpel with an ovule attached—usually only one ovule matures. The seed is drupe-like, inverted egg-shaped or oval, 2.5–3 cm long, pale yellow, and coated with a white powdery wax. The outer seed coat is fleshy, powdery, and malodorous, turning orange-yellow when ripe. The inner seed coat is gray-white, hard, and has ridged edges on both sides. The endosperm is rich, and there are two cotyledons. Flowering occurs from April to May. Fruiting takes place from July to October. The plant is cultivated in most parts of the country. The roots or root bark (Ginkgo Root), bark (Ginkgo Bark), and leaves (Ginkgo Leaf) of this plant are also used medicinally.