326 



MANUAL OF POISONOUS PLANTS 



Fig. 126. (Ephedra tievad- 

 ense). A shrub in Southwest- 

 ern United tSates. 



circinnalis, known as the "Fadong" in the island of Guam, is poisonous, but 

 the poisonous properties of the seeds are removed by soaking and repeatedly- 

 changing the water. He says also that the seeds when fresh are so poisonous 

 that the water in which they are steeped is fatal to chickens. The group also 

 includes the Dioon the seeds of which furnish a starch which is an article of 

 food. The species of Zamia, a member of this group, are native to tropical 

 Florida. 



2. Bennettiales, A fossil group. 



3. Cordaitales, A fossil group. 



4. Gingkoales. These include the Gingkoaccae, of which the Ginkgo biloba 

 is well known and is frequently cultivated as an ornamental plant in the United 

 States. Long avenues of these trees are planted in Washington. The fruit 

 of the Gingko has a very disagreeable odor. The tree was common in the ter- 

 tiary age. 



5. The Conifcrae. 



6. Gnetales. This group is represented in the United States by Ephedra, 

 shrubs with horse-tail like branches, small leaves and buckwheat-like seeds. 



The Welwitschia of the above group is found upon stony ground in the trop- 

 ical Old World. 



