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Tree (Ginkgo biloba , L.). 
zoic plants has conclusively demonstrated that Cycads and 
Ferns become more and more intimately associated as we 
descend the geologic series: we are led to the conclusion 
that these two classes of plants are the descendants of some 
common stock of remote antiquity. Our object in this con¬ 
tribution is to give a general account of the external features 
and internal structure of Ginkgo biloba , to summarize the 
scattered references which bear directly on the systematic 
position of the genus, and to present such evidence as is 
available towards a more accurate knowledge of the past 
history of the Ginkgoaceae. 
The material used in our investigations was obtained 
chiefly from the gardens of Montpellier and Cambridge ; the 
specimens of male flowers borne on the large Ginkgo tree 
in the Royal Gardens, Kew, were kindly given to us by 
Dr. Scott. Our thanks are due to M. Jules Daveau for 
female flowers produced in the Montpellier Gardens, and 
to Mr. Lynch for rendering us much valuable assistance in 
procuring material. 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
The Maidenhair tree is first mentioned under the name 
Ginkgo in 1712 by Kaempfer 1 , who gives a drawing of a 
shoot and an ovule and speaks of the plant as ‘ Ginkgo or 
Ginan, vulgo Itsjo 2 —arbor nuci fera folio adiantino.’ Kaemp- 
fer’s term Ginkgo was adopted by Linnaeus 3 in his c Mantissa 
Plantarum ’ of 1771. Thunberg 4 places Ginkgo biloba , L. } 
among ‘ plantae obscurae/ and a few years later Smith 5 refers 
it to the Coniferae, substituting the designation Salisburia 
adiantifolia for the ‘ uncouth generic name Ginkgo and the 
incorrect specific term biloba . 3 
In 1812 Gouan 6 contributed a paper on Ginkgo , in which 
he figured a shoot and a male flower; he retained the older 
1 Kaempfer ( 1712 ), p. 811 ; vide also Kaempfer ( 1727 ), vol. i, p. 116. 
2 Vide Matsumura (’ 84 ), p. 86. Ginkgo biloba — Icho and Ginan-no-ki. 
3 Linnaeus ( 1771 ), p. 313. 4 Thunberg ( 1784 ), p. 358. 
5 Smith ( 1797 ). 6 Gouan (’ 12 ). 
