Enemies:  Practically free from insects and disease.

[Illustration:  FIG. 45.—­Leaves of the Gingko Tree.]

Value for planting:  It makes a valuable tree for the street where heavy
    shade is not the object and forms an excellent wide-spreading
    specimen tree on the lawn.

Other characters:  The fruit consists of a stone covered by sweet,
    ill-smelling flesh.  The tree is dioecious, there being separate male
    and female trees.  The male tree is preferable for planting in order
    to avoid the disagreeable odor of the fruit which appears on the
    female trees when about thirty years old.  The male tree has a
    narrower crown than the female tree.  The buds (Fig. 46) are very odd
    and are conspicuous on the tree throughout the winter.  The leaves of
    the gingko shed in the winter.  In this respect the tree is like the
    larch and the bald cypress.

[Illustration:  FIG. 46.—­Bud of the Gingko Tree.]

The gingko belongs to the yew family, which is akin to the pine family.  It is therefore a very old tree, the remains of the forests of the ancient world.  The gingko in its early life is tall and slender with its few branches close to the stem.  But after a time the branches loosen up and form a wide-spreading crown.  In the Orient it attains enormous proportions and in this country it also grows to a fairly large size when planted on the open lawn or in groups far apart from other trees so that it can have plenty of room to spread.  It then produces a picturesque effect of unusual interest.

WEEPING WILLOW (Salix babylonica)

Distinguishing characters:  All the willows have a single cap-like scale
    to the bud, and this species has an unusually drooping mass of
    slender branchlets which characterizes the tree from all others,
    Fig. 47.

[Illustration:  FIG. 47.—­Weeping Willow.]

Form and size:  It grows to large size.

Range:  Asia and Europe and naturalized in eastern United States.

Soil and location:  Prefers moist places near streams and ponds.

Enemies:  None of importance.

Value for planting:  The weeping willow has a special ornamental effect
    in cemeteries and along lakes and river banks in parks.

Commercial value:  It is used in the United States for charcoal and for
    fuel.

Comparisons:  The pussy willow (Salix discolor) may easily be told
    from the other willows by its small size; it is often no higher than
    a tall shrub.  Its branches are reddish green and the buds are dark
    red, smooth and glossy.  The predominating color of the twigs and
    buds in the pussy willow is therefore a shade of red, while in the
    weeping willow it is yellowish green.