THE ROMANCE OF OUR TREES 



ured 86 feet high and 4 feet 10 inches in girth of 

 trunk and is straight and upright in habit; the 

 female, which bears good seed, is much smaller. It is 

 claimed th^t the Ginkgo in Europe will live outdoors 

 as far north as Viborg in Finland (Lat. 60° 45' N.) 

 and that it thrives in Riga (Lat. 56° 57' N.). In 

 Norway, in the Botanic Gardens at Christiania, it 

 has grown outdoors on a wall facing east since 1839. 

 In southern Sweden, in Skaone, and on Gothland, it 

 grows well, and in Denmark it thrives in many 

 gardens. 



Apart from the typical tree there is a form (pend- 

 ula) with pendent branchlets; another {fastigiata) with 

 upright growing branches; a third (variegata) has 

 leaves blotched and streaked with pale yellow, and a 

 fourth {macrophylla) is characterized by its larger, 

 more deeply cut leaves. The pendulous and upright 

 forms are worth cultivating, but the other two have 

 nothing to recommend them except that they are 

 curious. 



This sole survivor of an extensive family in pre- 

 historic periods of the earth's history is quite unique 

 among existing trees. It boasts a whole catalogue 

 of peculiarities and is not closely related to any living 

 family or group in the whole vegetable kingdom. 

 Its leaves resemble the pinnae of the common Maid- 

 enhair Fern; its plum-like fruit is not a fruit in the 



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