46 STUDIES OF TREES 



Enemies : Few. 



Value for planting: Used as a shade tree in 

 the Middle West, but the tree is so ill formed 

 and so short-lived that it is not to be recom- 

 mended. 



Commercial value: None. The wood is 

 soft. 



Other characters: The bark of the trunk is 

 smooth and yellowish-green in young trees and 

 grayish brown in older specimens. The flowers 

 appear in the early part of April. The fruit 

 takes the form of yellowish-green keys which 

 hang on the tree till late fall. 



Other common names : The box elder is also 

 commonly known as the ash-lccf maple, 



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 

 FIG. 36. i n their general form that they may, for the 

 purpose of study, be grouped together, and dis- 

 Elder tinguished from all other trees by this charac- 

 teristic. 



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. 



