TULIPTREE 



Liriodendron tulipifera Linnaeus 



This beautiful tree is a joy to behold at any season of the year. Its bare 

 gray branches outlined against the winter sky impress one with their 

 vigor of growth and sturdy health, and when the warmer days and 

 April showers swell the buds, and the tiny young leaves appear, the tree 

 bursts into its supreme glory. If in a sunny situation, it is soon covered 

 with green tulip-shaped flowers, each cup beautifully decorated with 

 a brilliant orange bar, to entice the visiting bees. In autumn the leaves 

 are a mass of orange and gold. 



The tuliptree is the only member of the genus Liriodendron in 

 America, though a closely related species flourishes in central China, 

 these two being the sole survivals of the Cretaceous Period, when 

 members of the genus were widely distributed in America and Europe. 

 Though it reaches its greatest size in the lower Ohio Basin, sometimes 

 growing almost 2.00 feet high, it is found in the eastern United States 

 from Louisiana to Florida and northward to Michigan and southern 

 Vermont. 



The wood has a variety of commercial uses, while the bark, especially 

 that of the roots, yields a tonic and heart stimulant. The blossom of the 

 tuliptree is the State flower of Indiana. 



The specimen sketched was obtained at Washington, District of 

 Columbia. 



PLATE 45 



