471 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



TULIP TREE 



Whitewood, Yellow Poplar. 



Liriodendron Tulipifera L. 



HABIT A good sized tree 50-70 ft. in height with a trunk diameter 

 of 2-3 ft., in the Ohio basin reaching an exceptional height of nearly 

 200 ft.; trunk tall, straight, continuous into the crown and giving 

 off comparatively short, horizontal, declined or slightly ascending 

 branches with upcurved tips, forming in young trees a pyramidal and in 

 older trees an oblong head. Light yellow fruiting cones or at least 

 their axes conspicuous at ends of twigs. 



BARK Somewhat resembling bark of White Ash but ridges are 

 longer and the furrows are shallower and more rounded and less inclined 

 to form diamond-shaped patches; inner bark bitter; young bark ashy- 

 gray and smooth, becoming dark with light colored seams. 



TWIGS Slender to somewhat stout, reddish-brown, smooth and shin- 

 Ing with more or less evident bloom, with an agreeable aromatic 

 smell when broken but with an intensely bitter taste, not mucilaginous; 

 on vigorous shoots often branching the first season. LENTICELS con- 

 spicuous pale dots. PITH white with rather inconspicuous transverse 

 woody partitions through the ground-mass. 



LEAF-SCARS Alternate, more than 2-ranked, large, conspicuous, 

 elevated, circular or slightly flattened at the top. STIPULE-SCARS 

 conspicuous, arising from top of leaf-scar, encircling twig. BUNDLE- 

 SCARS small, numerous, scattered like perforations in a sieve. 



BUDS Dark reddish-brown, covered with a bloom, white-dotted, 

 blunt, flattish; lateral buds small, on vigorous twigs superposed acces- 

 sory buds sometimes present which may be stalked or develop into 

 branches the first season; terminal buds large 5-20 mm. long, oblong, 

 blunt. BUD-SCALES spoon-shaped, smooth, valvate in pairs corre- 

 sponding to stipules, each pair enclosing in succession a long-stalked, 

 smooth, reflexed and folded leaf with its 2 scale-like stipules; leaf- 

 stalk attached only at its base, hence scar of rudimentary leaf when 

 present located at base of bud. 



FRUIT A light brown cone made up of winged seed-like portions, 

 20-40 mm. long which remain aggregated together into the winter but 

 which are gradually dropped leaving the persistent terminal axis. 



COMPARISONS The Magnolias to which the Tulip Tree is botani- 

 cally related have likewise aromatic twigs with circular stipule-scars. 

 Their leaf-scars, however, are not circular; their buds are pointed or 

 hairy and the scar of the rudimentary leaf is considerably above base 

 of bud. The light brown fruiting cones from which the winged seed- 

 like bodies have partially fallen are generally to be found on the Tulip 

 Tree and are distinctive for this species. 



DISTRIBUTION Prefers a rich, loamy, moist soil. Is sometimes 

 planted as an ornamental tree. From New England south to the Gulf 

 states; west to Wisconsin; occasional in the eastern sections of Missouri 

 and Arkansas. 



IN NEW ENGLAND Vermont valley of the Hoosac River in the- 

 southwestern corner of the state; Massachusetts frequent in the Con- 

 necticut river valley and westward; reported as far east as Douglas, 

 southeastern corner of Worcester county; Rhode Island frequent. 



IN CONNECTICUT Occasional, local or frequent. 



"WOOD Light, soft, brittle not strong, easily worked, light yellow or 

 brown, with thin creamy white sapwood; largely manufactured into 

 lumber generally, under the name of "Whitewood"; used in construction, 

 the interior finish of houses, boat building and for shingles, brooms and 1 

 woodenware. The intensely acrid bitter inner bark, especially of the- 

 root, is used domestically as a tonic and stimulant and hydrochlorate- 

 of tuliplferine, an alkaloid, separated from the bark, possesses the 

 property of stimulating the heart. 



