Abstract:

Tianmu Mountain is located in Zhejiang Province,has a varied topography with numerous gorges.The light trace of the glacier erosion during the Quaternary Period had been found in the foot of the mountains.The protophyte vegetation was conserved intactly,and there existed a lot of old Ginkgo biloba trees. G.biloba is referred as a “living fossil” and native to China.The question of whether or not G.biloba still exists in the wild has been debated by botanists,without resolution,for almost a hundred years.Most of the controversy has focused on a population of trees grown in Tianmu Mountain,Zhejiang Province.The habitat of the Ginkgo population in Tianmu Mountain as well as the characters of its growth and reproduction,were described in this paper.Based on the combined results of the analysis of genetic structure and community investigation and extensive ，Ginkgophytes fossil records in Zhejiang Province,the Gingkgo population in Tianmu Mountain might be one of the natural populations in China.The research also provided evidence for G.biloba listing as first-class conservation by the Chinese Government.

Key words: Tianmu Mountain, Ginkgo population, Origin