SHUFELDT] ACCURACY IN DESCRIBING TREES 291 



enlarge upon further in this place ; it is my intention, next summer, 

 to photograph specimens of these smaller flowers and fruit, and 

 publish the photographs in order to sustain what is set forth above. 

 One thing is certain ; this variety is not due to hybridization ; for, 

 according to all the standard botanies, we have but the one species 

 of tulip tree in the United States. Moreover, I am satisfied that it 

 is not due to differences in soil and climate, for both occur, in full 

 health, in the same localities. 



We may next consider the descriptions given of the general form 

 and aspect of the full-grown tree as we meet with it in its normal 

 environment. This is an important point in a full description of 

 any tree — important to the botanist, to the explorer, and to the 

 general observer. Turning to the last edition of Gray's Botany, 

 we find this point ignored entirely; the description given merely 

 states *' A most beautiful tree, sometimes 40 m. high and 2-3 m. in 

 diameter in the Western and Southern States, the timber commonly 

 called POPLAR or WHITE WOOD" (p. 409). It goes without 

 the saying that Liriodendron is no "poplar," and the form of the 

 Tulip Tree is entirely overlooked in the description. 



As to other botanical authorities, I select "The Trees of North- 

 eastern America," by Charles S. Newhall, as an example. This is 

 an authoritative work, as it has an introductory note by Nath. L. 

 Britton, of Columbia College. With respect to the form and 

 growth of Liriodendron tulipifera, Professor Newhall says: "Among 

 the largest and most valuable of the North American trees. It is 

 usually seventy to one hundred feet high, often much higher, with a 

 straight, clear trunk, that divides rather abruptly at the summit 

 into coarse and straggling branches. ' ' Michaux says : "Of all the 

 trees of North America with deciduous leaves, the tulip tree, next 

 to the buttonwood, attains the amplest dimensions, while the per- 

 fect straightness and uniform diameter of its trunk for upwards of 

 forty feet, the more regular disposition of its branches, and the 

 greater richness of its foliage, give it a decided superiority over the 

 buttonwood and entitle it to be considered as one of the most 

 magnificent vegetables of the temperate zone." 



This quotation from Michaux appears in Newhall's account of 

 the Tulip Tree in the work just cited, and is an improvement on 

 the description of the author who quotes it. Passing, however, to 

 Newhall's own account, be it noted that he says the Tulip Tree 

 has a "Straight, clear trunk that divides rather abruptly at the 



