Have you ever been taking a springtime walk in the woods and seen a strange tulip-like flower laying on the forest floor? Did you ever think that it could have fallen from 70’ above? Yea, strange right?
The tree for this Tree Talk Tuesday is the Tulip Tree. Sometimes this tree is known as the Tulip Poplar, or the Yellow Poplar.
- Scientific Name: Liriodendron tulipifera (somehow this is always a name I can remember from my plant ID classes in college. Must have been a good professor or a joke with my crazy study group!)
- LifeSpan: Can live to be 500 years old, though generally only 200-250
- Height: 70’ to 90’ tall, and grows at a fast rate
- Width: The canopy can reach 40’ – trunks can reach 7’ diameter
- Fall Color: Bright yellow
- Bloom Time: May and June
- Bloom Color: pale green-yellow, with a darker yellow/orange center/base
- Family: Magnoliaceae (Magnolia)
The bloom of the tulip tree really does look like a tulip, and are quite showy. I know I have my own photos from springtime at the Eisenhower National Historic Site….somewhere…on an old computer! Below is one from wildflower.org. (Go ahead, get distracted by beautiful tulip tree images on the site 🙂 I did!)
Notice the leaf? It is very large, symmetrical, and deep green in color. They grow off of the branches on a long stem, and have two to four lobes. The leaf to the right of the flower hasn’t reached maturity yet.
The Tulip Tree is the State Tree of Tennessee, and can be found in the Baby Ranger Book One Two Three Great Smoky Mountains
Below are some of my pictures from the Smokies, next to some of the biggest Tulip Trees I have seen.
(I actually think this is in a park near Bryson City, NC)
Grow big and strong little one!
Closing this out as I always do – encouraging you to go on a hike! See what you can find! Look up into the canopy, or down on the ground… any signs of a Tulip Tree??? Let me know if you find one! I’d love to hear from you!
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