TAXACE^— YEW FAMILY 



GINKGO 



Salisbu7-ia adianti folia. Ginkgo biloha. 



The Ginkgo is a Chinese tree which came to England by 

 wa}' of Japan and to the United States by way of England. 

 It is proving itself to be perfectly hardy and is planted in 

 greater numbers year by year. 



That which astonishes the observer is the singular char 

 acter of its leaves. There is nothing like them in the ar- 

 borescent foliage of either America or Europe. Appar- 

 ently they are fern leaves ; they so closely resemble the 

 leaves of the Maiden-hair fern, Adiantum, that one of the 

 specific names of the tree is adiantifolia. They are not 

 evergreen ; they turn yellow and drop in late autumn, in 

 that respect partaking of the character of the Larch and 

 the Bald Cypress. 



The fruit is a drupe about an inch long, oval in shape, very 

 ill scented when ripe, and containing a nut which is high- 

 ly esteemed in Japan. This nut resembles a large plump 

 plum-stone. It is not palatable until roasted, but then it is 

 considered a digestive and is very generally served at ban- 

 quets. 



The tree has been slow to fruit in this country, but it is 

 becoming apparent that the reason has been that few trees 

 have attained the requisite age. Trees thirty to forty years 

 old are beginning to fruit quite generally. 



The young trees are tall, slender and spiry with a tendency 



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