THE SACRED GINKGO 163 
Races which once formed vast and lofty forests are 
now represented by a few lowly herbs; and it is diffi- 
cult to recognize in the tiny Selaginella of our moors 
the representative of the gigantic Club-mosses of Car- 
boniferous days. But certain plants still living retain 
Fic. 27.—LrEaF OF MAIDENHAIR TREE (GINKGO BILOBA), 3. 
to a great extent the features of their ancestors of 
the ancient rocks. One of the most interesting of 
these is the Maidenhair Tree (Ginkgo biloba), well 
known as a sacred tree in the East, and apparently 
preserved to us through the last few thousand years 
owing to this custom, as it does not seem to exist 
