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Tulip Tree 



II. TULIP TREE 



GENUS LIRIODENDRON LINN^US 

 Species Liriodendron Tulipifera Linnaeus 



HE Tulip tree, White-wood, Tulip poplar. Yellow poplar, WTiite poplar. 

 Blue poplar, Hickor}- poplar, Saddle-leaf, or Lyre tree, as it is variously 

 called, the type of the genus Liriodendron, is the most characteristic 

 tree of eastern North America, and also one of the largest and most 

 interesting ; it grows in woods from Rhode Island to southern Vermont, Michigan, 

 and Missouri, south to Florida, Mississippi, and Arkansas, attaining a maximum 

 height of about 60 meters, the trunk sometimes 3 meters in diameter or more. 



The thick brown bark is irregularly ridged, the stout twigs reddish brown to 

 gray, the blunt-pointed buds large, glaucous and smooth, their scales stipular to 

 the leaves, falling away while the leaves are still young, except on seedhng plants, 

 where they are quite persistent. The alternate leaves are unique in form, smooth, 

 broadly ovate or nearly orbicular in outhne, truncate or broadly notched at the 



apex, 6 to 20 cm. long, with two apical lobes and 

 2 or 4 basal ones ; they are shining bright green 

 on the upper surface, paler and dull on the under 

 side; the slender leaf-stalks are 10 cm. long or 

 less, and the leaves quiver somewhat hke those 

 of the Aspens. The large, greenish yellow flowers 

 are solitary at the ends of branchlets, opening in 

 May or June; they have 3 reflexed petal-hke 

 sepals, 6 connivcnt clawed blunt petals, many 

 stamens borne on the base of the long receptacle, 

 and many pistils spiked on the upper part of the 

 receptacle; the style is winged, the stigma small. 

 The fruit is an oblong pointed cone 5 to 7 cm. 

 long, the dry fruiting carpels imbricated on the 

 receptacle, the axes of which remain on the trees 

 after the carpels have fallen away. 

 The tree grows rapidly and is most desirable for shade or ornament on lawns 

 or along highways. It is quite free from insect pests and the few leaf-fungi that 

 live upon it are not noticeably detrimental. Its wood is soft, weak and brittle, 

 light yellow to brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.42. It is easily worked and 

 is very valuable, being used in large quantities for a variety of purposes, including 

 construction of buildings, interior carpentr}^ furniture, shingles, and woodenware. 

 The genus is represented by only one other Hving species, a native of China 

 {Liriodendron chinensis Sargent). Its geological history is extensive, fossil leaves 

 of its ancestors occurring in the rocks from the Lower Cretaceous period to those 

 of recent formation. The name is Greek, signifying a tree bearing lilies. 



Fig. 347. Tulip Tree. 



