Argghhhh!

I've tried and tried to update my zone, it's correct in my profile!

Toronto, 5b

It seems to be Ginkgo biloba.

Yes, the leaves have the distinctive fan shape. That particular specimen has remarkable symmetry for a ginkgo, no obvious signs of pruning.

its gorgeous... but i feel sorry for that tree ..

first its going to be badly pruned for the lightpole ...

then for when it starts scraping on the balcony railing.. unless it is much further from the house than it looks ...

to my eye.. this is one of those deals.. where a large plant was positioned perfectly for the size it is at planting ... with no real concept of its future growth potential ....

that or its some miracle thin shaped cultivar.. of which i am not aware .. not that i might know them all ...

ken

You are correct, WAY too close to the house. Typical builder install, make it look pretty, now.

Putting this his guy on my "trees I wanna have cuz they're pretty" list... Which is much shorter than the "trees I wanna have cuz they gimme yummy stuff" list.

Furthermore if you have a female ginkgo and it fruits, the smell is awful! Neighbors will be looking at the bottom of their shoes and thinking they stepped in something, particularly on a hot September day when the rotted fruit is scattered about.

A former neighbor had her ginkgo removed in short order because of the stench.

Smaller ginkgo cultivars are available; the pictured one may even be an example.

Most named forms of ginkgo are males, eliminating any smelly fruiting issues. And there are both dwarf and fastigiate selections available as well although the one in the photo doesn't look especially dwarfish......but it could very well be a more narrow growing, columnar form, like 'Princeton Sentry'.