THE GINKGO TREE 



WHEN one's attention is first called to the strangely curious leaves of the Ginkgo 

 Tree or Maidenhair Tree one cannot but be struck with their extraordinary 

 form and structure. They seem not at all like the leaves of a tree, and, to one 

 who has examined under a reading glass the small leaflets of the Maidenhair Fern, these 

 Ginkgo leaves will appear like magnified fern-leaves. The petiole is rather stout, some- 

 what grooved on the upper side, and it seems literally to expand into the fan-like blade of 

 the leaf, nearly all of the veins arising from the enlarged end of the petiole and many of 

 them giving off a few parallel branches which serve for the expansion of the leaf. The 

 general form of the leaves, with their slight variations, is well shown on the plate. As will 

 be seen, there is a deep cleft in the middle of the tip which sometimes extends nearly halt 

 way to the base. 



It seems fitting that a tree with foliage so bizarre should have come from the Orient, 

 and its name as well as its form easily suggests its Chinese origin. It is said to have been 

 introduced into Japan from China and into England from Japan and into America from 

 England. The foliage is of a very beautiful green color and this fact, together with its 

 extraordinary form, has led it to be quite generally planted as an ornamental species in 

 parks and private grounds. It grows slowly but there are now in America many trees which 

 have been planted for thirty or forty years that have attained a large size, some of which 

 bear small crops of the interesting fruit. The pollen-bearing and the seed-bearing flowers 

 are borne in separate clusters, as may be seen in the upper right hand picture on the plate. 

 The latter mature into curious plum-like drupes, the pulpy part of the fruit being ill- 

 scented and valueless but the large inner nut having a good-sized kernel which after being 

 roasted is much esteemed by the Orientals. These fruits, however, are proving an objec- 

 tionable feature of the tree for street use in Washington, D. C, as they litter the sidewalks 

 when they drop. This would not be so serious a matter on lawns and along fences, so that 

 the latter situations are to be preferred in planting the trees. 



The form of the older trees is well shown in the fine specimen illustrated on the 

 plate. The general outline is suggestive of some of the Oaks, the wide-spreading branches 

 giving a dense shade. The leaves turn yellow in autumn and fall off, although the Ginkgo 

 Tree belongs to the great family of conifers, most of which retain their leaves through the 

 winter. This tree is so beautiful and interesting that it deserves to be more generally 

 planted in parks and private grounds. 



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