108 



GINKGO BILOBA. 



in mystery as obscure as that of its remote ancestors. Its habitat is 

 practically unknown ; no naturalist can say that he has seen it in a 

 wild state, and hypothesis alone suggests that it may possibly be found 

 wild in some unexplored district in eastern Mongolia.* For centuries 

 it lias been preserved alive by the Chinese and Japanese who by 



[Fig. 49. Ginkgo Inloba. 1, Leaf of sterile branch ; 2, of fertile branch ; :>, Staminate Mowers ; 

 4, Ovuliferous flowers ; 5, fruit. 



associating it with their religious worship and planting it near their 

 shrines and temples, have invested it with a kind of sanctity that has 

 contributed immensely to its preservation amidst a dense population 

 among whom the struggle for existence has long been of an acute 



*,A recent communication from the Far East points to the probability of the Ginkgo 

 being endemic in Corea. 





