Yellow Poplar-liriodendron tulipifera

by: Helena Noh, 6th grade, Hilsman Middle School

Description: One of tallest and most beautiful hardwoods with a long, straight trunk, narrow crown, and large showy flowers resembling tulips or lillies. Leaves are 7.5-15cm long and wide. Blades of unusal shape, with broad tip and base nearly straight. 4 or 6 paired paired lobes and alternate arrangement.

Bark:Dark gray: becoming thick and deeply furrowed.

Flowers:4 to 5cm long and wide. Cup shaped with 6 rounded green petals. Solitary and upright at the end of leafy twig.

Habitat:Moist and well-drained soils, especially valleys and slopes. Often in pure stands.

Range:Extreme South Ontario east to Vermont and Rhode Island, south to North Florida, west to Louisiana, and north to south Michigan.

Reference:Audubon Society Field Guide TO North American Trees