TAXACEZZ—YEW FAMILY 
GINKGO 
Salisbttria adianti folia. Gtnkgo biloba, 
The Ginkgo is a Chinese tree which came to England by 
way 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 adtantifolia. 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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