IN EXTEA-TROPICAL COUNTRIES. 139 



Java the early growth to be nearly 18 feet in a month, the 

 principal branches only commencing when the shoot had 

 reached a height of about 70 feet. Some Java bamboos are 

 known to measure, at a height of about 120 feet, 22 inches 

 in girth. 



Gigantochloa verticillata, Munro. (Bambusa verticiUata, Blume.) 



The Whorled Bamboo of India. It attains a height of 

 100 feet ; in damp heat it grows at the astonishing celerity of 

 40 feet in about three months, according to Bouch^. The 

 young shoots furnish an edible vegetable like G. Apus and 

 Bambusa Bitung. 



GinkgO biloba, Linne. (Salisburia adiantifolia, Smith.) 



Ginkgo Tree. China and Japan. A deciduous fan-leaved 

 tree, 100 feet high, with a straight stem 12 feet in diameter. 

 The wood is white, soft, easy to work, and takes a beautiful 

 polish. The seeds are edible, and when pressed yield a good 

 oil. The fruits, sold in China under the name of " Pa-Koo," 

 not unlike dried almonds, but white, fuller, and rounder 

 (Fortune). Ginkgo trees are estimated to attain an age of 

 3,000 years. Mr. Christy observes that the foliage turns 

 chrome yellow in autumn, and that it is the grandest and most 

 highly esteemed of all trees in Japan ; it will grow in dry 

 situations. 



Gladiolus edulis, Burchell. 



Interior of South Africa. The bulb-like roots are edible, and 

 taste like chestnuts when roasted. 



Gleditschia triacanthos, Linne. 



The deciduous Honey Locust-Tree of North America. Height 

 up to 80 feet. Wood hard, coarse-grained, fissile, not without 

 importance for street planting. Sown closely, this plant 

 forms impenetrable, thorny, not readily combustible hedges. 

 An allied species, the G. horrida, Willd., in East Asia. The 

 Water Locust-Tree of North America (G. monosperma, Walt.) 

 will grow in swamps to 80 feet. 



Glycine hispida, Bentham. (Soja kispida, Moench.) 



An annual herb of India, China, and Japan. The beans are 

 one of the main ingredients of the condiment known as Soja. 

 Glycine Soja, Siebold and Zuccarini, is said to be a distinct 

 plant, but probably serving the same purpose. 



