2094- ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



Genus II. 



SALISBU'R/J Smith. The Salisburia, Lin. Si/st. MoncE^cia Polydndria. 



Identification. Lin. Trans., 3. p. 330. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 472. ; Horn. Hort. Reg. Haff., 2. p. 903. 

 Synonyme. Ginkgo of Kasmpfer, Linneeus, and others. 



Derivation. Named in honour of B. A. Salisbury, F.R.S., L.S., &c., a distinguished botanist. Ginkgo 

 is the aboriginal name in Japan. 



Description, Sfc. A deciduous tree of the first magnitude, a native of Japan, 

 and remarkable for the singularity of its leaves, which seem to unite Coniferae 

 with the Corylaceae. 



t 1. S. /IDIANTIFO^LIA S7mtJi. The Maiden-hair-leaved Salisburia, 

 or Ginkgo Tree. 



Jdentification. Trans. Lin. Soc, 3. p. 330. ; Willd. Sp. PI., 4. p. 472. ; Horn. Hort. Reg. Haff., 2. 



p. 903. ; Jacq. Leber den Ginkgo. 

 Synonymes. Gin/:go, Gin-an, or Itsjo, Kxmpf. Amcen., p. 811. ; G^rei^o Mloba Lin. Mant.,p.313., 



Syst. Veg., ed. 14., p. 987., Thunb. Fl. Jap., p. 358., Pers. Synop., 2. p. 573., Tratt. Alb. Tos., ed. 2., 



2. p. 80., Dec. in Bibl. Univ., 7. p. 130., Pesck \n Bibl. Univ., 7. p. 29., Gouan Descr. du Ginkgo, 



&c. ; Noyer du Japon, Arbre aux quarante Ecus. 

 T/ie Se.Tes. Both sexes are in the Kew Botanic Garden, in the Hackney Arboretum, and in our 



garden at Bayswater. 

 Engravings. Kampf. Amcen., p. 811. f. ; Gouan Descr. du Ginkgo, &c., f. ; Jacquin Leber den 



Ginkgo, 1. 1. ; our Jigs. 1992. and 1993. ; and the plates of this tree in our last Volume. 



Description, (Sfc. In its native country, the salisburia forms a large tree, 

 like the walnut, but is more conical in its manner of growth. In England, 

 in the chmate of London, where it is in a favourable soil and situation, 

 it rises with a straight erect trunk, regularly furnished with alternate 

 branches, at first inclined upwards, but, as they become older, taking a 

 more horizontal direction, so as to form a regular, conical, and somewhat 

 spiry-topped head. The bark is grey, somewhat rough, and it is said to be 

 full of fissures when the tree gets to be old. The leaves resemble those of the 

 ^diantum vulgare. They are of the same colour and texture on both sides, 

 and resemble, in their smoothness and parallel lines, those of a monocotyle- 

 donous plant. They are somewhat triangular in shape, disposed alternately, 

 like the branches ; wedge-shaped at the base, with stalks as long as the disk : 

 they are abrupt at the upper extremity, and cloven or notched there, in a 

 manner almost peculiar to this genus, and to some species of ferns : they 

 are smooth, shining, and pliant, of a fine yellowish green, with numerous mi- 

 nute parallel ribs ; and their margins are somewhat thickened. The male 

 catkins, which appear with the leaves, in May, on the wood of the preceding 

 year, or on old spurs, are sessile, about 1^ in. long, and of a yellowish colour. 

 The female flowers, according to Richard, have this particularity, that each is 

 in part enclosed in a sort of cup, like the female flowers of Dacrydium. This 

 covering is supposed to be produced by a dilatation of the summit of the 

 peduncle, as may be seen in our figure. The fruit consists of a globular or 

 ovate drupe, about 1 in. in diameter; containing a white nut, or endocarp, 

 somewhat flattened, of a woody tissue, thin, and breaking easily. The nut, 

 when examined by Sir J. E. Smith, from specimens in his possession, which 

 were sent from China to Mr. Ellis, was found to be larger than that of the 

 pistachia, with a farinaceous kernel, having the flavour of an almond, but 

 with some degree of austerity. The tree grows with considerable ra- 

 pidity in the climate of London, attaining the height of 10 ft. or 12 ft. in 

 10 years; and in 40 or 50 years, the height of as many feet. The longe- 

 vity of the salisburia promises to be great, for the largest trees in England, 

 that are in good soils, continue to grow with as much vigour as when they 

 were newly planted; and the tree at Utrecht, which is supposed to be between 

 90 and 100 years of age, and, consequently, the oldest in Europe, though not 

 large, still produces vigorous shoots. The highest tree that we know of in 

 England is at Purser's Cross, where it was planted about 17G7, as we have 



