GINKGOACEAE 



Ginkgo.* Maidenhair Tree 



Ginkgo biloba L. [Salisburia adiantifolia Smith] 



HABIT. A slender tree in youth, with slender, upright 

 branches, becoming broader with age and forming a symmetrical, 

 pyramidal crown ; probably 60-80 feet high, with a trunk diameter 

 of 2-4 feet. 



LEAVES. Clustered at the ends of short, spur-like shoots, 

 or scattered alternately on the long terminal branches ; simple ; 

 2-5 inches broad ; more or less fan-shaped ; usually bilobed 

 and irregularly crenate at the upper extremity; thin and leath- 

 ery ; glabrous, pale yellow-green on both sides ; petioles long, 

 slender; turning a clear, golden yellow before falling in autumn. 



FLOWERS. May, with the leaves; dioecious; the staminate 

 in short-stalked, pendulous catkins, i-i J / 2 inches long, yellow; the 

 pistillate more or less erect on the shoot, long-stalked, consisting 

 of 2 naked ovules, one of which usually aborts. 



FRUIT. Autumn; a more or less globose drupe, orange - 

 yellow to green, about I inch in diameter, consisting of an acrid, 

 foul-smelling pulp inclosing a smooth, whitish, somewhat flat- 

 tened, almond-flavored nut. 



WINTER-BUDS. Terminal bud about % inch long, conical, 

 smooth, light chestnut-brown ; lateral buds divergent, usually only 

 on rapid-growing shoots. 



BARK. Twigs gray-brown and smooth; thick, ash-gray and 

 somewhat roughened on the trunk, becoming more or less fissured 

 in old age. 



WOOD. Light, soft, weak, close-grained, yellow-white to 

 light red-brown, with thin, lighter colored sapwood. 



NOTES. Origin in dispute, but probably a native of north- 

 ern China. Extensively cultivated in China and Japan, where its 

 fruit is esteemed. Easily propagated from seed. Thrives in 

 deep, well-drained, rich soil. Practically free from insects and 

 fungous attacks, and little harmed by the smoke of cities. Prob- 

 ably hardy throughout the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. 



* Although formerly classed under PINACEAE, recent 

 investigations show it to be the type of a distinct family. 



