THE GINKGO 



By EM1LIE YUNKER, Louisville, Ky. 



Interesting to nature lovers was the recent discovery made 

 concerning two Ginkgo trees in our own city, which bore abundant 

 fruit this past summer. Neither had borne fruit before. One 

 of the trees measures about eleven inches in diameter three feet 

 from the ground. 



The fruit resembles a persimmon; it is not nearly so palat- 

 able, however. It contains a nut much like an apricot seed, 

 whose surface is satiny, the color of old ivory. We are told 

 that the nuts roasted or boiled are sold in the markets of China 

 and Japan. So rare were these seeds at one time in Kentucky 

 that a few years ago one hundred dollars' worth of shrubbery 

 was given in exchange for the seed from the tree growing on 

 the grounds of the old Military Institute at Farmdale near Frank- 

 fort, Ky., now the Deaf and Dumb Institute. 



The leaves of the Ginkgo are spread out like a lady's fan, 

 resembling closely in form those of the maiden hair fern ; hence 

 it is often called the Maidenhair Tree. The leaves are thick and 

 leathery, turning a dull golden yellow in the autumn. 



This tree is of noble type and quite high bred. In form, it is 

 wonderfully attractive, making an excellent tree, valuable for 

 its shade as well as its beauty. 



The Ginkgo's history is recorded in the rocks. Long ago. 

 preceding the coal period, when ferns and palms were trees, 

 many species grew on this earth. Today, but one species exists 

 — Ginkgo biloba — native only in the forests of China, in which 

 country it is planted to guard temples and other sacred places. 



According to Kaempfer, the first record of this tree was from 

 Japan in 1690. It was introduced into Holland, then into Eng- 

 land, and in 1748, by Alexander Hamilton to his garden contain- 

 ing rare trees, near Philadelphia. In the early forties, Henry Clay, 

 receiving some Ginkgo trees from a collection brought to Wash- 

 ington by an embassy from China, sent three to Kentucky. One 

 was planted in Lexington, one near Frankfort, the third no one 

 knows where. At Central Park, Louisville, there is a fine speci- 

 men which measures eleven feet in circumference three feet 

 from the ground. This is most likely the other tree. 



Through the generosity of Mr. Robt. Campbell, Supt. of Cave 

 Hill Cemetery, and Mrs. N. Bloom, many seeds have been dis- 

 tributed and planted. 



A young tree, the seed of which was planted in a flower pot 



