Liriodendron Tulipifera
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, and yellow-poplar—is the
North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
representative of the two-
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
''
Liriodendron ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...
'' (the other member is ''
Liriodendron chinense ''Liriodendron chinense'' (commonly known as the Chinese tulip poplar, Chinese tulip tree or Chinese whitewood) is Asia's native species in the genus ''Liriodendron''. This native of central and southern China grows in the provinces of Anhui, Gua ...
''), and the tallest eastern hardwood. It is native to eastern North America from
Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
and possibly southern Quebec to
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
eastward to southwestern
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
and
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, and south to central
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
. It can grow to more than in virgin cove forests of the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
, often with no limbs until it reaches in height, making it a very valuable
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...
tree. The tallest individual at the present time (2021) is one called the Fork Ridge Tulip Tree at a secret location in the
Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...
of
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
. Repeated measurements by laser and tape-drop have shown it to be in height. This is the tallest known individual tree in eastern
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
. It is fast-growing, without the common problems of weak
wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
strength and short lifespan often seen in fast-growing species. April marks the start of the flowering period in the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
(except as noted below); trees at the northern limit of cultivation begin to flower in June. The flowers are pale green or yellow (rarely white), with an orange band on the
tepals A tepal is one of the outer parts of a flower (collectively the perianth). The term is used when these parts cannot easily be classified as either sepals or petals. This may be because the parts of the perianth are undifferentiated (i.e. of very ...
; they yield large quantities of nectar. The tulip tree is the state tree of
Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
,
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, and
Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.


Description

The tulip tree is one of the largest of the native trees of eastern North America, known in an extraordinary case to reach the height of with the next-tallest known specimens in the range. These heights are comparable to the very tallest known eastern white pines, another species often described as the tallest in eastern North America. The trunk on large examples is typically in diameter, though it can grow much broader. Its ordinary height is and it tends to have a pyramidal crown. It prefers deep, rich, and rather moist soil; it is common throughout the Southern United States. Growth is fairly rapid. The bark is brown, furrowed, aromatic and bitter. The branchlets are smooth, and lustrous, initially reddish, maturing to dark gray, and finally brown. The wood is light yellow to brown, and the sapwood creamy white; light, soft, brittle, close, straight-grained. Specific gravity: 0.4230; density: . Winter buds are dark red, covered with a bloom, obtuse; scales becoming conspicuous stipules for the unfolding leaf, and persistent until the leaf is fully grown. Flower-bud enclosed in a two-valved, caducous bract. The alternate leaves are simple, pinnately veined, measuring long and wide. They have four lobes, and are heart-shaped or truncate or slightly wedge-shaped at base, entire, and the apex cut across at a shallow angle, making the upper part of the leaf look square; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud recurved by the bending down of the petiole near the middle bringing the apex of the folded leaf to the base of the bud, light green, when full grown are bright green, smooth and shining above, paler green beneath, with downy veins. In autumn they turn a clear, bright yellow. Petiole long, slender, angled. * Flowers: May. Perfect, solitary, terminal, greenish yellow, borne on stout peduncles, long, cup-shaped, erect, conspicuous. The bud is enclosed in a sheath of two triangular bracts which fall as the blossom opens. * Calyx: Sepals three, imbricate in bud, reflexed or spreading, somewhat veined, early deciduous. * Corolla: Cup-shaped, petals six, long, in two rows, imbricate, hypogynous, greenish yellow, marked toward the base with yellow. Somewhat fleshy in texture. * Stamens: Indefinite, imbricate in many ranks on the base of the receptacle; filaments thread-like, short; anthers extrorse, long, two-celled, adnate; cells opening longitudinally. * Pistils: Indefinite, imbricate on the long slender receptacle. Ovary one-celled; style acuminate, flattened; stigma short, one-sided, recurved; ovules two. * Fruit: Narrow light brown cone, formed from many samaras which are dispersed by wind, leaving the axis persistent all winter. September, October.
Harriet Louise Keeler Harriet Louise Keeler (1846–1921) was an American teacher, botanist, and author of several plant identification guides and textbooks. She authored 11 books, and the Harriet Keeler Memorial Woods in the Brecksville Reservation Brecksville Res ...
provided a description of the tulip tree in ''Our Native Trees and How to Identify Them''.


Gallery

File:Liriodendron tulipifera tulip close.jpg, Tulip-like flower File:Plodovi Liriodendron tulipifera.jpg, Golden autumn leaves and seed cones File:Liriodendron-tulipifera-bud.jpg, Large gray-green flower bud with yellow bract File:Liriodendron tulipifera MHNT.BOT.2004.0.jpg, Seeds File:Liriodendron tulipifera folded new leaves.jpg, Unfolding leaves File:Tulip Tree Leaf-vector.svg, Lobed leaf File:Liriodendron aureomarginata.jpg, Leaves of cultivar 'Aureomarginatum' File:Liriodendron tulipifera columnar trunk.JPG, Columnar trunk in streambank woods File:Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) buds in spring 06.jpg, Early spring buds opening File:Imperial-moth-camouflaged-with-leaf.jpg, Imperial moth camouflaged on leaf File:Tulip Tree NBG LR.jpg, Leaf File:Freshly split poplar.jpg, alt=dark mark along the grain, Mineral stain in fresh-split wood


Taxonomy

Originally described by
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...
, ''Liriodendron tulipifera'' is one of two species (see also ''L. chinense'') in the genus ''
Liriodendron ''Liriodendron'' () is a genus of two species of characteristically large trees, deciduous over most of their populations, in the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae). These trees are widely known by the common name tulip tree or tuliptree for their ...
'' in the magnolia family. The name ''Liriodendron'' is Greek for "lily tree". It is also called the tuliptree Magnolia, or sometimes, by the lumber industry, as the tulip-poplar or yellow-poplar. However, it is not closely related to true
lilies ''Lilium'' () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world. M ...
,
tulips Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...
or poplars. The tulip tree has impressed itself upon popular attention in many ways, and consequently has many common names. The tree's traditional name in the
Miami-Illinois language Miami-Illinois (endonym: , ) also known as Irenwa, or Irenwe is an indigenous Algonquian language spoken in the United States, primarily in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, western Ohio and adjacent areas along the Mississippi River by the Miami ...
is . Native Americans so habitually made their
dugout canoe A dugout canoe or simply dugout is a boat made from a hollowed tree. Other names for this type of boat are logboat and monoxylon. ''Monoxylon'' (''μονόξυλον'') (pl: ''monoxyla'') is Greek – ''mono-'' (single) + '' ξύλον xylon'' ( ...
s of its trunk that the early settlers west of the
Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, (french: Appalaches), are a system of mountains in eastern to northeastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They ...
called it Canoewood. The color of its wood gives it the name Whitewood. In areas near the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
it is called a poplar largely because of the fluttering habits of its leaves, in which it resembles trees of that genus. It is sometimes called "fiddle tree," because its peculiar leaves, with their arched bases and in-cut sides, suggest the violin shape. The external resemblance of its flowers to
tulip Tulips (''Tulipa'') are a genus of spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes (having bulbs as storage organs). The flowers are usually large, showy and brightly coloured, generally red, pink, yellow, or white (usually in warm ...
s named it the Tulip-tree. In their internal structure, however, they are quite different. Instead of the triple arrangements of stamens and pistil parts, they have indefinite numbers arranged in spirals.


Distribution and habitat

In the
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
age the genus was represented by several species, and was widely distributed over North America and Europe. Its remains are also found in
Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
rocks. Today the tulip tree is one of the largest and most valuable hardwoods of eastern North America. It is native from Connecticut and southern New York, westward to southern Ontario and northern Ohio, and south to Louisiana and northern Florida. It is found sparingly in New England; it is abundant on the southern shore of Lake Erie and westward to Illinois. It extends south to north Florida, and is rare west of the Mississippi River, but is found occasionally for ornamentals. Its finest development is in the Southern Appalachian mountains, where trees may exceed in height. It was introduced into Great Britain before 1688 in Bishop Compton's garden at
Fulham Palace Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of the ...
and is now a popular ornamental in streets, parks, and large gardens. The Appalachian Mountains and adjacent Piedmont running south from Pennsylvania to Georgia contained 75 percent of all yellow-poplar growing stock in 1974.


East Central Florida ecotype

Parts of east-central
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
near
Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures re ...
have an ecotype with similar-looking leaves to the coastal plain variant of the Carolinas; it flowers much earlier (usually in March, although flowering can begin in late January), with a smaller yellower bloom than other types. This east central Florida ecotype/Peninsular allozyme group seems to have the best ability to tolerate very wet conditions, where it may grow short pencil-like root structures (pneumatophores) similar to those produced by other swamp trees in warm climates. Superior resistance to drought, pests and wind is also noted. Some individuals retain their leaves all year unless a hard frost strikes. Places where it may be seen include
Dr. Howard A. Kelly Park Dr. Howard A. Kelly Park, often called ''Kelly Park'', is a protected area which is owned by Orange County, Florida. It lies about 17 miles (27 kilometers) northwest of Orlando. It shares some of its boundaries with Wekiwa Springs State Park and R ...
,
Lake Eola Park Lake Eola Park is a public park located in Downtown Orlando, Florida. Lake Eola is the main feature of the park. Also located in the park (on the west side) is the Walt Disney Amphitheater, which hosts many community events and various perform ...
, Spring Hammock Preserve, Big Tree Park and the
University of Central Florida Arboretum The Arboretum of the University of Central Florida is located on the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida, United States. Covering , it contains more than 600 species of plants, including more than 100 bromeliads, ...
.


Ecology

''Liriodendron tulipifera'' is generally considered to be a shade-intolerant species that is most commonly associated with the first century of forest succession. In Appalachian forests, it is a dominant species during the 50–150 years of succession, but is absent or rare in stands of trees 500 years or older. One particular group of trees survived in the grounds of Orlagh College, Dublin for 200 years, before having to be cut down in 1990. On mesic, fertile soils, it often forms pure or nearly pure stands. It can and does persist in older forests when there is sufficient disturbance to generate large enough gaps for regeneration. Individual trees have been known to live for up to around 500 years. All young tulip trees and most mature specimens are intolerant of prolonged inundation; however, a
coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...
swamp ecotype in the southeastern United States is relatively
flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
-tolerant. This ecotype is recognized by its blunt-lobed leaves, which may have a red tint. ''Liriodendron tulipifera'' produces a large amount of seed, which is dispersed by wind. The seeds typically travel a distance equal to 4–5 times the height of the tree, and remain viable for 4–7 years. The seeds are not one of the most important food sources for wildlife, but they are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Vines, especially wild grapevines, are known to be extremely damaging to young trees of this species. Vines are damaging both due to blocking out sunlight, and increasing weight on limbs which can lead to bending of the trunk and/or breaking of limbs.


Host plant

In terms of its role in the ecological community, ''L. tulipifera'' does not host a great diversity of insects, with only 28 species of moths associated with the tree. Among specialists, ''L. tulipifera'' is the sole host plant for the caterpillars of ''C. angulifera'', a giant silkmoth found in the eastern United States. Several generalist species use ''L. tulipifera''. It is a well-known host for the large, green eggs of the ''Papilio glaucus'', the eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly, which are known to lay their eggs exclusively among plants in the magnolia and rose families of plants, primarily in mid-late June through early August, in some states.


Use

''Liriodendron tulipifera'' is cultivated, and grows readily from seeds. These should be sown in fine soft soil in a cool and shady area. If sown in autumn they come up the succeeding spring, but if sown in spring they often remain a year in the ground. John Loudon says that seeds from the highest branches of old trees are most likely to germinate. It is readily propagated from cuttings and easily transplanted.


In landscape

Tulip trees make magnificently shaped specimen trees, and are very large, growing to about in good soil. They grow best in deep well-drained loam which has thick dark
topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...
. They show stronger response to fertilizer compounds (those with low salt index are preferred) than most other trees, but soil structure and organic matter content are more important. In the wild it is occasionally seen around serpentine outcrops. The southeastern coastal plain and east central Florida ecotypes occur in wet but ''not stagnant'' soils which are high in organic matter. All tulip trees are unreliable in clay flats which are subject to ponding and flooding. Like other members of the
Magnoliaceae The Magnoliaceae () are a flowering plant family, the magnolia family, in the order Magnoliales. It consists of two genera: ''Magnolia'' and '' Liriodendron'' (tulip trees). Unlike most angiosperms, whose flower parts are in whorls (rings), t ...
family, they have fleshy roots that are easily broken if handled roughly. Transplanting should be done in early spring, before leaf-out; this timing is especially important in the more northern areas. Fall planting is often successful in Florida. The east central Florida ecotype may be more easily moved than other strains because its roots grow over nine or ten months every year—several months longer than other ecotypes. Most tulip trees have low tolerance of
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, although Florida natives (especially the east central ecotype) fare better than southeastern coastal plain or northern inland specimens. It is recommended as a shade tree. The tree's tall and rapid growth is a function of its shade intolerance. Grown in the full sun, the species tends to grow shorter, slower, and rounder, making it adaptable to landscape planting. In forest settings, most investment is made in the trunk (i.e., the branches are weak and easily break off, a sign of axial dominance) and lower branches are lost early as new, higher branches closer to the sun continue the growth spurt upward. A tree just 15 years old may already reach in height with no branches within reach of humans standing on the ground.


Cultivars

* 'Ardis' – dwarf, with smaller leaves than wild form. Leaves shallow-lobed, some without lower lobes. * 'Arnold' – narrow, columnar crown; may flower at early age. * 'Aureomarginatum' – variegated form with pale-edged leaves; sold as 'Flashlight' or 'Majestic Beauty'. * 'Fastigatum' – similar form to 'Arnold' but flowers at later age. * 'Florida Strain' – blunt-lobed leaves, fast grower, flowers at early age. * 'Integrifolium' – leaves without lower lobes. * 'JFS-Oz' – compact oval form with straight leader, leaves dark and glossy; sold as 'Emerald City.' * 'Leucanthum' – flowers white or nearly white. * 'Little Volunteer' – almost as diminutive as 'Ardis' but with stronger form. Leaves more deeply lobed than 'Ardis.' * 'Mediopictum' – variegated form with yellow spot near center of leaf. * 'Roothaan' – blunt-lobed leaves. * 'Snow Bird' - variegated, with white-edged leaves. In the UK the species and its
variegated Variegation is the appearance of differently coloured zones in the leaves and sometimes the stems and fruit of plants. Species with variegated individuals are sometimes found in the understory of tropical rainforests, and this habitat is the s ...
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...
'Aureomarginatum' have both gained the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...
's Award of Garden Merit. ''Liriodendron tulipifera'' has been introduced to many temperate parts of the world, at least as far north as Sykkylven, Norway and Arboretum Mustila, Finland. A few nurseries in Finland offer this species even though it is not fully hardy there and tends to be held to shrub form. It is occasionally cultivated in tropical highlands, as in Costa Rica and Colombia. In the latter nation it is a street tree at Bogota.


Honey

Nectar is produced in the orange part of the flowers. The species is a significant
honey plant Honeybees usually collect nectar, pollen, or both from the following species of plants, which are called honey plants, for making honey. Acanthaceae (Acanthus family) *'' Avicennia nitida'' Jacq. or Avicennia ger ...
in the eastern United States, yielding a dark reddish, fairly strong honey unsuitable for table honey but claimed to be favorably regarded by some bakers


Wood

Though not a poplar at all, the soft, fine-grained wood of tulip trees is known by that name (short for yellow poplar) in the U.S., but marketed abroad as "American tulipwood" or by other names. It is very widely used where a cheap, easy-to-work and stable wood is needed. The sapwood is usually a creamy off-white color. While the heartwood is usually a pale green, it can take on streaks of red, purple, or even black; depending on the extractives content (i.e. the soil conditions where the tree was grown, etc.). It is clearly the wood of choice for use in
organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a f ...
, due to its ability to take a fine, smooth, precisely cut finish and so to effectively seal against
pipes Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to: Objects * Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules ** Piping, the use of pipes in industry * Smoking pipe ** Tobacco pipe * Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circula ...
and
valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
s. It is also commonly used for siding clapboards. Its wood may be compared in texture, strength, and softness to
white pine ''Pinus'', the pines, is a genus of approximately 111 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera: subgenus ''Pinus'' (hard pines), and subgenus ''Strobus'' (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further ...
. Used for interior finish of houses, for siding, for panels of carriages, for coffin boxes, pattern timber, and wooden ware. During scarcity of the better qualities of white pine, tulip wood has taken its place to some extent, particularly when very wide boards are required. It also has a reputation for being resistant to termites, and in the
Upland South The Upland South and Upper South are two overlapping cultural and geographic subregions in the inland part of the Southern and lower Midwestern United States. They differ from the Deep South and Atlantic coastal plain by terrain, history, econom ...
(and perhaps elsewhere) house and barn sills were often made of tulip wood beams.


Arts

The tulip tree has been referenced in many poems and the namesakes of other poems, such as William Stafford's "Tulip Tree." It is also a plot element in the Edgar Allan Poe short story "
The Gold-Bug "The Gold-Bug" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who was bitten by a gold-colored bug. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an ...
". Another form of art that the tulip tree is a major part of is wood carving. The tulip poplar can be very useful and has been one of the favorite types of trees for wood carving by sculptors such as Wilhelm Schimmel and Shields Landon Jones."JONES, SHIELDS LANDON (1901–1997)." The Encyclopedia of American Folk Art. London: Routledge, 2003. Credo Reference. Web. 26 September 2012.


See also

* The
Queens Giant Alley Pond Park is the second-largest public park in Queens, New York City, occupying . The park is bordered to the east by Douglaston, to the west by Bayside, to the north by Little Neck Bay, and to the south by Union Turnpike. The Cross ...
, a tulip tree that is the oldest living thing in the New York Metropolitan area (350–450 years old, tall) * ''
Spathodea campanulata ''Spathodea'' is a genus in the plant family Bignoniaceae. The single species it contains, ''Spathodea campanulata'', is commonly known as the African tulip tree. The tree grows between tall and is native to tropical dry forests of Africa. It ha ...
'', often known as the African tulip tree, an unrelated plant in a separate family (
Bignoniaceae Bignoniaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales commonly known as the bignonias or trumpetvines.Vernon H. Heywood, Richard K. Brummitt, Ole Seberg, and Alastair Culham. ''Flowering Plant Families of the World''. Firefly Book ...
)


Notes


References


Further reading

* Hunt, D. (ed). 1998. ''Magnolias and their allies''. International Dendrology Society & Magnolia Society. ()
Repopulation of the Tulip Poplar in Central Florida

Michigan Bee Plants :: Magnoliaceae :: Liriodendron tulipifera



External links

* * {{Authority control Magnoliaceae Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of the Southeastern United States Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Flora of Ontario Plants described in 1753 Trees of humid continental climate Garden plants of North America Ornamental trees Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus