CHAPTER XX 



PLANTS VALUABLE FOR THE CHARACTERISTICS OF 



. THEIR FRUIT 



THE charm of many landscape plantings during fall and early 

 winter months is due almost entirely to the interesting effects produced 

 by the fruit of various trees, shrubs, and vines. Too little attention 

 is given to the landscape value of plants because of their fruiting 

 characteristics. It is the general impression that plants for landscape 

 value have completed their greatest purpose when they have produced 

 their foliage and flowers. As a matter of fact, instances may be 

 common within the recollection of everyone where some interesting 

 touch of colour in the landscape has been noticed and on further study 

 has been found due entirely to the colour effect coming from a mass of 

 hanging fruit. 



To those people who occupy their permanent homes only during the 

 fall and winter months, and whose greatest enjoyment from their land- 

 scape plantings should be produced by the fruiting effects, this is an 

 important problem. It is admitted that many of our plants, such as the 

 horse-chestnut, tree of heaven, honey locust, and hackberry, produce 

 fruit which because of its littering habit is objectionable. These 

 plants, however, are very few. The list of plants which produce fruit 

 valuable because of certain characteristics such as interesting form 

 and size, colour effects, and the ability to retain the fruit during the 

 later winter months, includes many of our trees, shrubs, and vines that 

 are valuable for their flowering effects also. This question is such an 

 important one that each of the groups should be taken up in an in- 

 dividual discussion. The value of plants for their fruits which attract 

 our many bird friends presents such an interesting study that this has 

 been taken up as a distinct part of this chapter. 



Among plants useful on the more refined lawn areas', where the de- 

 tailed development of landscape plants is one of the most interesting 

 features, there are a number of plants, such as the burning bush, cu- 

 cumber tree, and the oriental plane, representative of the group pro- 



160 



