iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Tuliptree

Liriodendron
Enlarge picture
Liriodendron tulipifera branch with flower at Sumter, South Carolina. No orange pigment occurs in the L. chinense flower.

Liriodendron tulipifera branch with flower at Sumter, South Carolina. No orange pigment occurs in the L. chinense flower.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Plantae
Division:Magnoliophyta
Class:Magnoliopsida
Order:Magnoliales
Family:Magnoliaceae
Genus:Liriodendron
Species


Liriodendron chinense (Hemsl.) Sarg.
Liriodendron tulipifera L.


Liriodendron is a genus of two species of tree in the Magnoliaceae family, known under the common name Tulip tree. Liriodendron tulipifera is native to eastern North America, while Liriodendron chinense is native to China and Vietnam. Both species are large deciduous trees.

Description

The tulip tree is sometimes called "tulip poplar" or "yellow poplar" although unrelated to the genus Populus. The tree is also called canoewood, saddle leaf tree and white wood. The Onondaga tribe calls it Ko-yen-ta-ka-ah-tas (the white tree).

Liriodendron are easily recognized by their leaves, which are distinct, having four lobes in most cases and a cross-cut notched or straight apex. Leaf size varies from 8-22 cm long and 6-25 cm wide.

Leaves are slightly larger in L. chinense but with considerable overlap between the species; the petiole is 4-18 cm long. Leaves on young trees tend to be more deeply lobed and larger size than those on mature trees. In autumn the leaves turn yellow, or yellow and brown. Both species grow rapidly in rich moist soils of temperate climates. They hybridize easily and the progeny often grow faster than either parent.

Flowers are 3-10 cm in diameter and have nine tepals, three short outer sepals, and six inner petals, yellow-green with an orange flare at the base. They are superficially similar to a tulip in shape, hence the tree's name. Flowers of L. tulipifera have a faint cucumber odor. The stamens and pistils are arranged spirally around a central spike or gynaecium; the stamens fall off, and the pistils become the samaras. The fruit is a cone-like aggregate of samaras 4-9 cm long, each of which has a roughly tetrahedral seed with one edge attached to the central conical spike and the other edge attached to the wing.

Distribution

Liriodendron are also easily recognized by their general shape, with the higher branches sweeping together in one direction, and they are also recognizable by their height, as the taller ones usually protrude above the canopy of oaks, maples, and other trees -- more markedly with the American species. Appalachian cove forests often contain several tuliptrees of height and girth not seen in other species of eastern hardwood.

In the Appalachian cove forests, trees 150 to 165 feet in height are common, and trees from 166 to nearly 180 feet are also found. More Liriodendron over 170 feet in height have been measured by the Eastern Native Tree Society than for any other eastern species. The current height champion is approximately 178.5 feet in height and grows along Baxter Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The tallest tuliptrees on record probably reached 190 feet in height, taller than any other eastern hardwood. Today the tuliptree is rivaled in eastern forests only by white pine, loblolly pine, and eastern hemlock. There are reports of tuliptrees over 200 feet in height, but none of the measurements have been confirmed by the Eastern Native Tree Society. Most reflect measurement errors attributable to not accurately locating the highest crown point relative to the base of the tree - a common error made by the users employing only clinometers/hypsometers when measuring height.

Maximum circumferences for the species are between 24 and 30 feet at breast height, although a few historical specimens may have been slightly larger. Today, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has the greatest population of tuliptrees 20-feet and over in circumference. The largest volume tuliptree known anywhere is the Sag Branch Giant which has a trunk and limb volume approaching 4,000 cubic feet.

Like many "Arcto-Tertiary" genera, Liriodendron became extinct in Europe due to large-scale glaciation. It is known widely as fossils in Europe and well outside its natural range in Asia and North America, showing a once circumpolar distribution.

Cultivation & Use

Liriodendron sp. prefer a temperate climate, sun or part shade and deep, fertile, well drained and slightly acidic soil. Propagation is via seed or grafting. Plants grown from seed may take more than eight years to flower. Grafted plants will flower earlier depending on the age of the scion plant.

Tulipwood is fine grained and stable. It is easy to work and commonly used for cabinet and furniture framing. The wood is only moderately rot resistant, and is not commonly used in shipbuilding, but has found some recent use in light craft construction. The wood is readily available and when air dried has a density of approximately 24 pounds per cubic foot.

The name canoewood probably refers to the tree's use for construction of dugout canoes by Eastern Native Americans, for which its fine grain and large trunk size is eminently suited.

Tulpitree leaves are eaten by the caterpillars of some Lepidoptera, for example the Eastern tiger swallowtail (Papilio glaucus).

Species & Cultivars

Liriodendron tulipifera
Liriodendron chinense
L. tulipifera 'Ardis' is a small-leaf, compact cultivar that is rarely seen
L. tulipifera 'Aureomarginatum' is variegated with yellow-margined leaves
L. tulipifera 'Fastigiatum' grows with an erect or columnar habit (fastigiate)
L. tulipifera 'Glen Gold' bears yellow-gold colored leaves
L. tulipifera 'Mediopictum' is a variegated cultivar with gold-centered leaves

References and external links

[1]
Sumter, South Carolina
Nickname: Gamecock City
Location of Sumter in
South Carolina
Coordinates:
Country United States
State South Carolina
..... Click the link for more information.
Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
..... Click the link for more information.
Plantae
Haeckel, 1866[1]

Divisions

Green algae
  • Chlorophyta
  • Charophyta
Land plants (embryophytes)
  • Non-vascular land plants (bryophytes)

..... Click the link for more information.
Magnoliophyta

Classes

Magnoliopsida - Dicots
Liliopsida - Monocots

The flowering plants or angiosperms are the most widespread group of land plants. The flowering plants and the gymnosperms comprise the two extant groups of seed plants.
..... Click the link for more information.
Magnoliopsida

Magnoliopsida is the botanical name for a class of flowering plants. By definition the class will include the family Magnoliaceae, but its can otherwise vary, being more inclusive or less inclusive depending upon the classification system being
..... Click the link for more information.
Magnoliales
Bromhead

Families
see text

Magnoliales is an order of flowering plants.

The APG system (1998) and the APG II system (2003) place this order is in the clade magnoliids, circumscribed as follows:

..... Click the link for more information.
Magnoliaceae
Juss.

Genera

Subfamily Magnolioideae
  • Tribe Magnolieae
  • Kmeria (5 species)
  • Magnolia

..... Click the link for more information.
L. chinense

Binomial name
Liriodendron chinense
(Hemsl.) Sarg.

Liriodendron chinense, the Chinese tulip tree, is Asia's native species in the Liriodendron genus.
..... Click the link for more information.
L. tulipifera

Binomial name
Liriodendron tulipifera
L.

Range


Liriodendron tulipifera, commonly known as the American tulip tree,
..... Click the link for more information.
Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné)

Carl von Linné, Alexander Roslin, 1775. Currently owned by and hanging at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
..... Click the link for more information.
Magnoliaceae
Juss.

Genera

Subfamily Magnolioideae
  • Tribe Magnolieae
  • Kmeria (5 species)
  • Magnolia

..... Click the link for more information.
L. tulipifera

Binomial name
Liriodendron tulipifera
L.

Range


Liriodendron tulipifera, commonly known as the American tulip tree,
..... Click the link for more information.


North America is a continent [1] in the Earth's northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west
..... Click the link for more information.
L. chinense

Binomial name
Liriodendron chinense
(Hemsl.) Sarg.

Liriodendron chinense, the Chinese tulip tree, is Asia's native species in the Liriodendron genus.
..... Click the link for more information.
This page contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
China (Traditional Chinese:
..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
Độc lập - Tự do - Hạnh phúc
"Independence - Freedom - Happiness"
Anthem
Tiến Quân Ca
"Army March" (first verse)
..... Click the link for more information.
Deciduous means "temporary" or "tending to fall off" (deriving from the Latin word decidere, to fall off) and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally.
..... Click the link for more information.
tree is a perennial woody plant. It is sometimes defined as a woody plant that attains diameter of 10 cm (30 cm girth) or more at breast height (130 cm above ground).
..... Click the link for more information.
This article is about woody plants of the genus Populus. For other uses, see Poplar (disambiguation).

Poplar, Aspen, Cottonwood

Western Balsam Poplar foliage


Scientific classification
..... Click the link for more information.
The term Populus is Latin, for people or nation. It may refer to:
  • Populous (series), a series of video games
  • SPQR, meaning "Senatus Populusque Romanus", the Roman Senate and the People
  • Populus Romanus in Etruscan civilization

..... Click the link for more information.
Onondaga (Onundagaono or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent tribes of the Iroquois (Hodenosaunee) Confederacy. Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York.
..... Click the link for more information.
leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat (laminar) and thin, to expose the cells containing chloroplast (chlorenchyma tissue, a type of parenchyma) to light over a broad area, and to allow light to penetrate
..... Click the link for more information.
petiole ('pet-ee-ohl'; from Latin peciolus "little foot," diminutive of pediculus "foot stalk," itself a diminutive of pes "foot") is the small stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem.
..... Click the link for more information.
hybrid has two meanings.[1]

The first meaning is the result of interbreeding between two animals or plants of different taxa. Hybrids between different species within the same genus are sometimes known as interspecific hybrids or crosses.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
Tepals are elements of the perianth, or outer part of a flower, which include the petals or sepals. The term tepal, derived from a combination of the words 'petal' and 'sepal,' is usually used when all segments of the perianth are of similar shape and color, or
..... Click the link for more information.
sepal (from Latin separatus "separate" + petalum "petal") is a part of the flower of angiosperms or flower plants. Sepals in a "typical" flower are green and lie under the more conspicuous petals.
..... Click the link for more information.
Tulipa

Species
See text

Tulip (Tulipa) is a genus of about 100 species of flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. Its species are native to southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the east to northeast of
..... Click the link for more information.
stamen (plural stamina, from Latin stamen meaning "thread of the warp") is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament (from Latin filum, meaning "thread"), and, on top of the filament, an anther
..... Click the link for more information.
carpel is the outer, often visible part of the female reproductive organ of a flower; the basic unit of the gynoecium.

Carpel anatomy

The parts of the carpel are:
  • the stigma (from Ancient Greek stigma

..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter