846 
TULIP TREE 
Flower o t tulip tree. 
forest trees. They are four to six inches 
long, 4-lobed, with the end abruptly trun¬ 
cated or broadly notched and have a smooth 
bright-green surface. The bark, which is 
broken into large flat ridges, has a very 
bitter taste and was used by the Indians as 
a remedy for intermittent fevers. 
The slightly fragrant bell-shaped flowers 
are two inches long, solitary and terminal. 
The calyx is composed of three oval con¬ 
cave sepals of a pale-greenish color, which 
finally become reflexed. There are six large 
yellowish-green petals, each of which is 
marked at the base with an irregular cres¬ 
cent-shaped bright orange-yellow spot. The 
stamens are numerous with short filaments. 
In the center there is a cone-like mass of 
pistils (carpels). The seeds are winged 
and form a dry cone 3 inches long, which 
falls apart in autumn. The flowers are 
very frequently visited by bees and also by 
humming birds. 
The tulip tree is found in rich woods 
from Massachusetts and Michigan south¬ 
ward to Florida and Mississippi and west¬ 
ward to Arkansas and Louisiana. It suc¬ 
ceeds best in a fertile loamy soil, such as 
occurs in river bottoms and on the borders 
of swamps. As a source of honey it is im¬ 
portant in southern Virginia, West Vir¬ 
ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland, 
North Carolina, South Carolina and north¬ 
ern Georgia. In southern Virginia on the 
Piedmont Plateau the tulip tree and sour- 
wood are the only plants which yield a 
large surplus. In the rugged wooded re¬ 
gion of southwest Virginia the tulip tree, 
sourwood, black locust, and basswood fur¬ 
nish a large amount of honey. Along the 
Ohio River in West Virginia the tulip tree 
is likewise abundant. On a tract of land, 
625 acres in extent, near the Ohio River be¬ 
tween the Great Kanawha and Big Sandy 
rivers there were counted 16,987 trees, of 
