This week it’s:
AS a student, I was fascinated by two plants that had been around since prehistoric times. They were the dawn redwood and ginkgo trees. Many prehistoric plants have since become extinct, while others that were thought to be extinct have, through plant hunting and modern science, ‘come back from the dead’ – and are grown in gardens!
I still marvel at the fact that some of the plants in my garden were around when dinosaurs roamed the earth! Let’s take a look at a few of these ancient marvels.
■ Ginkgo is the maidenhair tree, so named because the leaves look similar to the native maidenhair fern. The word ‘ginkgo’ comes from the Chinese yinxing meaning ‘silver apricot’. Er…
Sago palms
THE common sago palm () is, the age of the dinosaur. Today, there are several genera that are referred to as cycads, with cycas and dioon being the two most commonly seen in gardens.
