Strong Genes. Ginkgo biloba, Maidenhair Tree, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
During the tenure (1885-1918) of Hugo Marie de Vries (1848-1935) as director of the Hortus this wonderful Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo biloba, was planted in 1895. Ginkgos can be understood as living fossils. Their fossils date back some 250 million years and today they're the only living species of their kind.
Strong genes indeed.
And that reminded me of the work of famous Hugo de Vries, one of the founders of the science of genetics. He could enter the garden through a private gate opposite his house next doors and would have to walk by this tree. In 1889 he introduced to science the word 'pangenes', about two decades later changed to 'genes' by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen (1857-1927).
Strong Genes. Ginkgo biloba, Maidenhair Tree, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
During the tenure (1885-1918) of Hugo Marie de Vries (1848-1935) as director of the Hortus this wonderful Maidenhair Tree, Ginkgo biloba, was planted in 1895. Ginkgos can be understood as living fossils. Their fossils date back some 250 million years and today they're the only living species of their kind.
Strong genes indeed.
And that reminded me of the work of famous Hugo de Vries, one of the founders of the science of genetics. He could enter the garden through a private gate opposite his house next doors and would have to walk by this tree. In 1889 he introduced to science the word 'pangenes', about two decades later changed to 'genes' by the Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen (1857-1927).