365 Urban Species. #301: Tulip Poplar

[urbpan]

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Comments

[calypso72]

I have a love/hate relationship with tulip poplars. I love the flowers and the general loveliness of the trees. I hate all the leaf-raking their gigantic leaves result in every fall (ie, right now).

[treeclimber47]

Lovely photo. Here are a pair of mature Liriodendron tulipfera showing the distinct bark texture:
http://tinyurl.com/ufzkt

Tulip poplars grow fast and tall! A tulip tree in Michigan is said to have reached 200 ft. but was blown down in 1984. The current tallest tulip in Massachusetts is 133 ft. A tulip in North Carolina was measured at 177 ft. in '03 and was the tallest known in the U.S. at the time it was measured.

There are several tall ones in the little grassy park just to the west of Jamaica Pond next to Hellenic Hill. There is a good sized one in between Ward's and Willow Pond, probably the tallest tree in Olmstead Park. I love the shape of their leaf.

[droserary]

I remember being told that settlers in Pennsylvania Dutch country valued the timber of the tuliptree because they grow tall and very straight, so they could be used for the long beams in cabins.

[ndozo]

The really tall ones seem to fall over in big windstorms more than you might expect. I wonder if they have relatively shallow root systems or something.

[hissilliness]

I'm surprised to see any uncertainty about the origins of the name. Its large, distinctive, upright, cup-shaped flowers made enough of an impression on me as a child that it was one of the first tree species I learned to recognize.