SUPPLEMENT. 
THE FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS. 
By Cuaries Lours .PoLnarp. 
ORDER GINKGOALES. (Fig. 4.) 
HIS strange group is limited to a single family, Ginkgoacez, 
an the latter moreover consisting of a single genus, Ginkgo, with 
one species, (7. biloba, the ginkgo or maidenhair tree’ of China 
and Japan. ‘Though formerly of rare occurrence in cultivation here, 
the tree is now frequently used to shade 
parkways and avenues, though it is not 
hardy in a severe climate. It is of 
conical outline, very symmetrical, with 
thick, slender-petioled irregularly fan- 
shaped leaves, often more or less lobed 
or incised at the broad outer margin, 
and wedge-shaped at the base. The 
plants are dioecious, separate individ- 
uals bearing the male and female in- 
florescences; a spray of leaves with the 
staminate flowers is shown in Fig. 4. 
The fruit is bright yellow in color, 
similar in appearance to a cherry, and 
fleshy in texture, with a hard central 
seed of stone; it is also distinguished for 
its nauseating odor. One of the finest 
plantation of these trees in this coun- 
try is to be observed along the avenue 
leading up to the Department of Agri- 
se iy tereles foam ake culture building, in Washington. Dur- 
Bras Hag RTO ee Onan) ing the summer, when they are clothed 
with their full wealth of foliage, these ginkgos possess a unique beauty 
which is unrivalled by any other ornamental shrub or tree. 
