Tulip Tree, Yellow Poplar
Liriodendron tulipifera
Family Magnoliaceae

Characteristics:
* Leaves 4-lobed, with a tulip-like outline. 6-10".
* Flower also tulip-shaped, orange at the base, with 6 greenish-yellow petals. They appear only after leaves develop.
* Fruits winged, tan, clustered in upright cone- or corn-like spikes, 3" long.
* Height: 50-150'.

Natural History:
* Flowers May - June.
* Fruits September - November.
* Habitat: Fertile, deciduous woodlands.
* Range: Eastern United States, southern Vermont and Massachusetts south.
* Native.

Connections!
* The tulip tree is one of the tallest eastern hardwoods. Its wood is finely grained and resistant to splitting; and used for shingles, boats, furniture, toys, and pulp. Native Americans made dugout canoes from tulip tree trunks.

* Although called Yellow Poplar, the tulip tree is in the magnolia family and not actually a poplar. It is one of the fewnative New England species that produces a large, showy flower.

* The tulip tree at the right is found next to Munger Meadow. Other Wellesley specimens grow in the Arboretum and beside Severance Green.