FOREST TREES AKD FOREST SCENERY 



Before turning to coniferous trees, 

 the tulip tree deserves some attention 

 on account of its usefulness, its ex- 

 tended habitat, and its beauty as a 

 forest tree. It is closely related to the 

 magnolias, to which belongs the big 

 laurel of the Gulf region, an evergreen 

 species that might be called the queen 

 of all broadleaf trees. But the big 

 laurel must here give place to the tulip 

 tree, because it is not so distinctively a 

 forest tree, and is much more restricted 

 in its geographical distribution. 



The first general impression of the 

 tulip tree is, I venture to say, one of 

 strangeness. There is a foreign look 

 about the heavy, truncated leaves, and 

 an oriental luxury in the large, green- 

 ish-yellow flowers. These appear in 

 May or June, while the conelike fruit 

 24 



