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,