471 



NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



TULIP TREE 



Whitewood, Yellow Poplar. 



Liriodendron Tulipifera L. 



HABIT — A good si:^ed 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. 



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-inass. 



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, "w^hite-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. 



fOMFWRlSONS — The Magnolias to which the Tulip Tree is botani- 

 cally related have likew^ise 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. 



DTSTRIBTTTION — 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 

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

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

 of tuliplferfne. an alkaloid, separated from the bark, possesses the 

 property of stimulating the heart. 



