On April 20, three prominent biologists will join forces to share all they know about the unique tree species, Ginkgo biloba.  Ginkgo is a plant species that has existed since the Jurassic period with few evolutionary changes and continues to thrive today. This special symposium includes a series of lectures, a tour of the Arboretum’s Ginkgo biloba collection, and lunch with a tasting of ginkgo nuts. Ginkgo artifacts and illustrations from the Harvard Libraries and collected paraphernalia will also be on display. So don your best ginkgo outfit (we know you have at least one article of clothing with a ginkgo leaf on it) and immerse yourself in the history and biology of this relict species.

Peter Crane, Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean of the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Professor of Botany, Yale University, and co- author of the just published book, Ginkgo: The Tree that Time Forgot, Yale University Press,  William “Ned” Friedman, Director, Arnold Arboretum and Arnold Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, and expert in the reproductive biology of early seed plants, including Ginkgo biloba, and Peter Del Tredici, Senior Research Scientist, Arnold Arboretum and Adjunct Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, a botanist who has studied ginkgo for more than 20 years and searched for and located remnant wild stands of ginkgo on the slopes of mountains in southwest China, will be the three luminaries speaking at the symposium.

WHEN: Saturday, April 20, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. View details and registration at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1165&DayPlannerDate=4/20/2013

WHERE: The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre Street, Roslindale, MA. http://arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/weld-hill-directions/