594 GINKGO GLEDITSCHIA 



ally supposed to be less erect in habit than the male, or to have even 

 pendulous branches. Two fine female trees in the botanic garden at 

 Vienna, which I saw in 1908, have that character. Whilst the fleshy 

 part of the fruit has a rancid, evil odour, the kernel of the nut is well 

 flavoured, and esteemed by the Japanese. The Ginkgo is best raised from 

 seed, and it requires a deep good soil ; when young it is often extremely 

 slow of growth, and although very hardy, is no doubt better suited in 

 climates with a hotter summer than ours. Good seeds are now produced 

 by S. European trees, and offer the best means of propagation. 



This tree is the only species of its genus, and stands well apart from 

 all the rest of the Coniferas. It has usually been regarded as a very 

 distinct member of the Yew family (Taxacese), but recent investigators 

 place it in a separate natural order (Ginkgoaceae). It is well represented 

 in a fossil state, and is the last representative of a race of tfees that in 

 earlier stages of the world's history filled an important place in its 

 vegetation. 



GLEDITSCHIA. HONEY LOCUST. LEGUMINOS^:. 



(Sometimes spelt Gleditsia.) 



A small group of pod-bearing, deciduous trees named in honour of 

 Gottlieb Gleditsch, a German professor of botany, who flourished in the 

 eighteenth century, and was a friend of Linnaeus. They are natives of 

 Eastern N. America, China, Japan, and Persia. The leaves are beauti- 

 fully subdivided into numerous leaflets, pinnately or bipinnately arranged, 

 and the trunks and branches of most species are more or less formidably 

 armed with simple or branched spines. These characters of leaf and 

 stem combined distinguish Gleditschia as a genus from all other hardy 

 trees. No Gleditschia has any beauty of blossom, the flowers being 

 small, green, and borne in racemes a few inches long. They are 

 sometimes perfect, sometimes unisexual, and differ from most of the 

 Leguminosae we are familiar with in the open air in the petals being 

 uniform, and with no resemblance to the pea-shaped blossom so 

 characteristic of the family. The seeds are produced in pods, varying 

 in length from i to 2 ins. (in G. aquatica) to 18 ins. long (in 

 G. triacanthos). In all except G. aquatica and G. texana the pods contain 

 pulp and numerous seeds, which, however, they do not release, as most 

 of the family do, by splitting. They often become spirally twisted before 

 falling. The species best worth growing are G. triacanthos and G. caspica, 

 both striking and ornamental-foliaged trees, very interesting on account of 

 their huge spines. 



Gleditschias should be raised from seed. They are rather tender in 

 a young state, owing to the habit of growing late in the season, so that 

 the succulent tips are cut back in winter. After a few years the hardier 

 species lose this defect. They like a good loamy soil and a sunny 

 position, thriving better in the south of England, where the summers 

 are hotter, than in the north ; still better in France and Italy. Besides 



