50 



in secondary rocks, are almost indistinguishable from those of the 

 present day Ginkgo, there is little doubt that we have here a re- 

 markable survival of a very ancient flora, that covered, not only 

 this country, but parts of North America and Greenland. Ginkgo 

 trees are unisexual, that is, the male and female flowers are on 

 different trees. The fruit is plum-like, about one or two inches 

 long. It is probable that most of the large trees in this country 

 are males. Fruit-bearing trees, are, however, fairly common in 

 Southern Europe, where seed is regularly produced. It is recom- 

 mended that trees raised from seed should always be planted in 

 preference to those obtained from cuttings. A fine ginkgo tree 

 grows in the corner of Mr. Lascelles' garden at Wick House, near 

 Christchurch. The trunk is divided, low down, into a large middle 

 and two side stems, and below these measures 5ft. in girth. The 

 top is bushy, and attains a height of 30ft. From the position in 

 which this interesting tree is placed, with high walls close to it, 

 on two sides, it is not possible to see it to advantage. Neverthe- 

 less, it is probably the largest tree in this neighbourhood and 

 deserves to be preserved. The tallest Ginkgo tree in England, 

 80ft. in height, is said to occur at Melbury Park, near Dorchester. 

 Another Dorset specimen, 70ft. in height, is reported from Sher- 

 borne. Perhaps the best-known Ginkgo is that at Kew, which in 

 1904 measured 62ft. in height, with a girth of 10ft. 4m. 



Pines. 



Passing from the broad-leaved trees, some native, some 

 foreign, we now come to the cone-bearing trees, usually with 

 linear-narrow leaves. The most important of these are the pines, 

 and a familiar representative is the Scots pine, which is found 

 everywhere in this neighbourhood. Its scientific name Pinus 

 sylvestris — the forest pine — is more appropriate than Scots 

 pine, for the tree is not confined to Scotland, but is native of 

 nearly all Europe, including Britain, and extends across Siberia 

 almost to the Pacific Ocean. It thrives as well under the summer 

 heat of Southern Spain as in the humid atmosphere and cold soils 

 of Norway and Sweden. In former ages the Scots pine covered 

 large areas in this country, and its numerous trunks found every- 

 where in mosses and peat-bogs attest its abundance in prehistoric 

 times. After disappearing during the glacial period it was re- 

 introduced to Southern England in the middle of the eighteenth 

 century, when the present considerable arens covered with Scots 

 pine were established from planted and self-sown seedlings. 

 Details of this interesting event are given in " Bournemouth in 

 1810-1910." 



There is a very interesting group of four Scots pines on the 

 south lawn at Heron Court. It is a tradition in the family that 

 the seed from which these were raised was brought from Scotland 

 by a relative who fought at the battle of Culloden in 1746. It is 

 probable that these trees were planted at least thirty years before 

 the Scots pine was re-introduced into the New Forest. The date 



