Cooperative Living October 2021 - 25

BranchingOut | by Steve Carroll, Contributing Columnist
Tulip Poplar: Our Tallest Hardwood
A dominant, distinctive figure on the landscape
t's difficult to know where to begin with the tulip poplar,
also called tulip tree and yellow poplar. Individual trees
often reach 100 feet or more in height, and sometimes
nearly twice that, making it the tallest native hardwood in
eastern North America.
The distinctive leaves are large and unmistakable in
shape, and although its large and colorful flowers do
superficially resemble tulips, this tree is most closely related
to magnolias.
Tulip poplars grow best in moist, rich, bottomland soil.
They are pioneer species, meaning they are among the
earliest trees to establish in
forest openings. They grow
fast and straight as they
reach for the light.
By 100 to 150 years,
they may be the dominant
tree in a forest, at which
time species that grow
better in shade begin to
replace them.
Tulip poplar
(Liriodendron tulipifera) is
one of only two species in
its genus, the other being
an Asian tree. Our native
species occurs naturally
from southern Michigan
and southern New England
south to Louisiana and
northern Florida. Virginia
is home to many towering
specimens, including two
soon-to-be-named national
co-champions, one in
Bedford and the other in
Chesapeake.
TULIP POPLAR TRAITS
Leaves grow singly along branches and can reach 5 to 6
inches long and wide. They usually have four distinct,
untoothed lobes and a shallow notch at the tip. Fall color
is yellow to yellow-brown.
The tulip-like flowers are truly magnificent. Each is
2 to 3 inches across with six greenish-yellow petals that
have dramatic orange markings at the base. Inside the petals
are multiple pollen-bearing stamens, and at the flower's
center is a column of egg-containing pistils. Unfortunately,
on a tree 150 feet tall, you generally must wait for flowers
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or branches to drop to the ground in order to get a close
look at one.
Given the flowers' height above the ground, we can excuse
pollinators for sometimes overlooking them, but bees and
other visitors do take advantage of the flowers' copious nectar.
If successfully pollinated, fruits form cone-like structures
in the fall that later break apart into individual wind-borne
fruits botanically similar to the samaras of maples and ashes.
Other nonhumans also appreciate this tree. For example,
Eastern tiger swallowtail and promethea moth caterpillars feed
on the leaves, and the seeds are eaten by bobwhite, songbirds
and small mammals, such as
squirrels and mice.
OTHER USES
The wood is soft, straightgrained
and easy to work. Native
Americans carved dugout canoes
from tulip poplar logs. Today,
it is used for furniture, toys,
clapboards and interior finish.
A mature tulip poplar makes
a magnificent specimen tree in
areas that receive full to partial
sun, but it does require space.
For homeowners with smaller
lots, dwarf and other varieties
are available in the nursery trade.
Virginia is home to so many
special trees. Yet of all those
featured in " Remarkable Trees
of Virginia, " the authors selected
photos of children and a tulip
poplar in Richmond's Maymont
for the book's front cover and
as its final image.
Sadly, Maymont's iconic tulip
poplar was badly damaged in
August. By the time you read
this, it will likely have been cut and removed.
That's disappointing because when I asked co-author Nancy
Hugo why the tree was special, she replied that not only was this
the first tree that Robert Llewellyn photographed for this book
project, but that, to use her words, " kids + trees = a good thing. "
How true! 
Steve Carroll is a botanist and ecologist who speaks and writes
about trees, gardening and the world of plants. He is the co-author
of " Ecology for Gardeners, " published by Timber Press.
October 2021 | Cooperative Living | 23
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Cooperative Living October 2021

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