GROUP VI. TREES TOLD BY THEIR FORM: ELM, POPLAR, GINGKO AND WILLOW

How to tell them from other trees: The trees described in this group are
so distinctive in their general _form_ that they may, for the
purpose of study, be grouped together, and distinguished from all
other trees by this characteristic.

How to tell them from each other: The American elm is _vase-like_ in
shape; the Lombardy poplar is narrow and _spire-like_; the gingko,
or maidenhair tree, is _odd_ in its mode of _branching_; and the
weeping willow is extremely _pendulous_.


AMERICAN ELM (_Ulmus americana_)

Distinguishing characters: The tree can be told at a glance by its
general branching habit. The limbs arch out into a wide-spreading
*fan or vase-like crown* which loses itself in numerous fine
drooping branchlets. See Fig. 37.

[Illustration: FIG. 37.--American Elm.]

Leaf: The leaves are simple, alternate, and from 2 to 5 inches long.

[Illustration: FIG. 38.--English Elm in Winter.]

Form and size: It is a tall tree with a trunk that divides a short