340 TKEES IN WINTER 



TULIP TREE 

 Whitewood, Yellow Poplar. 



Liriodendron Tulipifera L. 



HABIT — A g-ood 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 generally 

 lighter, with ridges longer and furrows 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. 



TAVIGS — 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. 



L.EAF-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. 



BITDS — 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 Magpolias 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; Connecticut — occasional, local 

 or frequent; Rhode Island — frequent. 



W^OOD — 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 

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

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

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

 property of stimulating the heart. 



