Most commonly, tulipwood is the greenish yellowish wood yielded from the

tulip tree ''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 ...

, found on the Eastern side of North America and a similar species is found in some parts of China. In the United States, it is commonly known as

tulip poplar ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

or yellow poplar, even though the tree is not related to the

poplars ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

. It is notable for its height, which can exceed 190 feet. The wood is very light, around 490 kg per cubic meter, but very strong and is used in many applications, including

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

joinery Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives ...

and moldings. It can also be stained very easily and is often used as a low-cost alternative to walnut and cherry in furniture and doors.

Other types

Brazilian

Brazilian tulipwood is a different species. A classic high-quality wood, it is very dense with a lovely figure. It is used for inlays in furniture and for small turned items. Available only in small sizes, it is rarely used in the solid for luxury furniture. Like other woods with a pronounced figure it is rather strongly subject to fashion. In the nineteenth century Brazilian tulipwood was thought to be the product of the brazilian

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

'' Physocalymma scaberrimum'' (West Indian tulipwood), but in the twentieth century it became clear it was yielded by a species of ''

Dalbergia ''Dalbergia'' is a large genus of small to medium-size trees, shrubs and lianas in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. It was recently assigned to the informal monophyletic ''Dalbergia'' clade (or tribe): the Dalbergieae. The ...

''. At some point it was misidentified as '' Dalbergia frutescens'', a misidentification which can still be found in books aimed at the woodworker. For some decades it has been known to be yielded by '' Dalbergia decipularis'', a species restricted to a small area in Western-

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. But both ''Dalbergia fructescens'' and ''Dalbergia decipularis'' are named (Brazilian tulipwood). Also ''

Dalbergia cearensis ''Dalbergia cearensis'', with common names Brazilian kingwood, kingwood, Bois de Violette, and violetwood, is a small tree endemic to Brazil. It is native to the states of Bahia, Ceará, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of ...

'' kingwood or violetwood, is named tulipwood and '' Dalbergia oliveri'' the burmese rosewood is sometimes called "burma tulipwood".

American tulipwood

The cheap, soft and pale wood from the tuliptree ''

Liriodendron tulipifera ''Liriodendron tulipifera''—known as the tulip tree, American tulip tree, tulipwood, tuliptree, tulip poplar, whitewood, fiddletree, lynn-tree, hickory-poplar, and yellow-poplar—is the North American representative of the two-species genus ...

'' is known as American tulipwood or poplar and American whitewood, canary whitewood and canary wood, it is widely used.

Australian

There also exists the "australian tulipwood", "tulipwood trees" the common name of ''

Harpullia ''Harpullia'' is a genus of about 27 species of small to medium-sized rainforest trees from the family Sapindaceae. They have a wide distribution ranging from India eastwards through Malesia, Papuasia and Australasia to the Pacific Islands. They ...

'', ''

Harpullia pendula ''Harpullia pendula'', commonly known as tulipwood, mogun-mogun, tulip lancewood, Queensland tulipwood, black tulipwood or black tulip, is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a tree ...

'' (Black or Queensland, Moreton Bay tulipwood) and ''

Harpullia arborea ''Harpullia arborea'', commonly known as Cooktown tulipwood in Australia, is species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae is native to the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka throughout Mainland Southeast Asia and Malesia to Queensland in Aus ...

'' (Cooktown tulipwood) or '' Harpullia hillii'' (Blunt leaf tulipwood) and '' Harpullia alata'' (Wing-leaved tulipwood) etc. Certain varieties of ''Harpullia'' were prized for their dark coloured timber. The one most commonly known to horticulture is ''Harpullia pendula'' which is widely planted as a street tree along the east coast of Australia. Also '' Drypetes acuminata'' and ''

Drypetes deplanchei ''Drypetes deplanchei'' is a tree of eastern and northern Australia. It also occurs in New Caledonia and Lord Howe Island. The genus is derived from the Greek, ''dryppa'' meaning "olive fruit". The species named after Émile Deplanche, Dr. Emile ...

'' (Yellow tulipwood) and New England tulipwood '' Guilfoylia monostylis'' are from Australia.

Others

Also exists the tuliptrees, ''

Thespesia populnea ''Thespesia populnea'', commonly known as the portia tree (), Pacific rosewood, Indian tulip tree, or milo, among other names, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a tree found commonly on coasts ar ...

'' and '' Thespesia acutiloba'', ''

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 h ...

'', ''

Stenocarpus sinuatus ''Stenocarpus sinuatus'', known as the firewheel tree, is an Australian rainforest tree in the family Proteaceae. The range of natural distribution is in various rainforest types from the Nambucca River (30° S) in New South Wales to the Athe ...

'', and '' Licaria guianensis'', '' Dicypellium caryophyllatum'' and ''

Hibiscus elatus ''Hibiscus elatus'', synonym ''Talipariti elatum'', known typically as the blue mahoe or majó azul, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae. Distribution ''Hibiscus elatus'' is native to the islands of Cuba, Jamaica the ...

'', these trees resp. their wood is also occasionally named tulipwood.Wiersema J.H., León B.: ''World Economic Plants: A Standard Reference.'' Second Edition, CRC Press, 2016, , p. 232, 338, 1206.''The Agriculture News.'' Vol. XI, No. 274, 1911
online
on biodiversitylibrary.org.

References

{{reflist Wood Plant common names