286 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 
more than seven or eight in the whole number, are productive. It is also 
observed, that, during ten years after it begins to yield fruit, almost all the 
seeds are unproductive; and that, on large trees, the seeds from the 
highest branches are the best. The bark, till the trunk exceeds 7 in. or 8 in. 
in diameter, is smooth and even: it afterwards begins to crack, and the 
depth of the furrow, and the thickness of the bark, are proportioned to the 
size, and to the age of the tree. The heart, or perfect wood, of the tulip 
tree is yellow, approaching to a lemon colour; and its sap, or alburnum, Is 
white. (Michaur.) In Europe, though the tulip tree does not attain the 
same magnitude that it does in situations favourable to it, in its native coun- 
try, it still forms a magnificent tree; in some cases, both in Britain and in 
the middle of the European continent, reaching the height of 90 ft. or 100 ft., 
flowering freely, and sometimes ripening seed. The annual shoots of young 
plants, in the neighbourhood of London, are from 18 in. to 2 ft. in length ; 
and the tree will, in favourable circumstances, attain the height of from 16 ft. 
to 20ft. in ten years; seldom, however, flowering till it is upwards of 
twenty years old. The height, in England, frequently exceeds 70 ft.; and it 
has ripened seeds here, occasionally, from which young plants have been 
raised. It ripens its fruit very generally in France ; though it is observed, in 
the Nouveau Du Hamel, that these seeds do not vegetate so freely as those 
which are imported from America. . 
Geography. The southern extremity of Lake Champlain, in latitude 45°, 
according to Michaux, may be considered as the northern, and,the Connecticut 
river, in the longitude of 72°, as the eastern, limit of the tulip tree. It is 
found beyond the-Hudson, which flows two degrees farther west ; and below 
43° of latitude it is frequently met with, and fully developed. Its expan- 
sion is not here repressed, as in Vermont, and in the upper part of the Con- 
tinent, by the excessive cold, and by a mountainous surface unfavourable to 
its growth. It abounds in the middle states, in the upper parts of the 
Carolinas and of Georgia; and is found still more abundantly in the western 
country, particularly in Kentucky. Its comparative rareness in the maritime 
parts of the Carolinas and of Georgia, in the Floridas, and in Lower 
Louisiana, is owing less to the heat of the summer than to the nature of the 
soil; which, in some parts, is too dry, as in the pine barrens, and in others 
too wet, as in the swamps which border the rivers. Even in the middle and 
western states, the tulip tree is less abundant than the oaks, the walnuts, 
the ashes, and the beeches, because it delights only in deep, loamy, and ex- 
tremely fertile soils, such as are found in the rich bottoms that lie along the 
rivers, and on the borders of the great swamps that are enclosed in the 
forests. In the Atlantic states, especially at-a-considerable distance from 
the sea, tulip trees are often seen 70 ft., 80 ft., and 100 ft. in height, with 
trunks from 18 in. to 3 ft. in diameter: but the western states seem to be 
the natural soil of this magnificent tree, and there it displays its most power- 
ful vegetation. It is commonly found mingled with other trees, such as the 
hickories, the black walnut and butter nut, the Kentucky coffee tree (Gym- 
nécladus), and the wild cherry tree: but it sometimes constitutes, alone, 
pretty large tracts of the forest ; as was observed by the elder Michaux on 
the road from Beardstone to Louisville. In no other part of the United 
States did he find tulip trees so lofty, and of so great a diameter. (Michaux.) 
The artificial geography of this tree may be said to embrace the middle region 
of Europe, from Berlin and Warsaw, on the north, to the shores of the 
Mediterranean and Naples, on the south; Ireland, on the west; and the 
Crimea, on the east. 
History. When the tulip tree was first introduced into England is uncer- 
tain ; but it was cultivated by Compton, at Fulham, in 1688. It was, however, 
at that time, wholly unknown as a timber tree. Evelyn, speaking of it, says, 
“ They have a poplar in Virginia of a very peculiar-shaped leaf, which grows 
well with the curiofs amongst us to a considerable stature. I conceive it was 
first brought over by John Tradescant, under the name of the tulip tree, from 
