Plants→Liriodendron→Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera)

Regarding some common names of the Tulip Tree:
Native American's traditional name in the Miami-Illinois language is 'Oonseentia'.
Indians often used the wood to make dugout canoes from trunk, thusly the name of 'Canoewood' (coined by early pioneers west of the Appalachian mountains).
The 'Whitewood' common name is due to the color of the wood.
'Fiddle tree' designation because leaves suggest a violin shape.

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The American Tuliptree is a very common tree in upland mature or climax woods of Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic. Its native range is from southern New England down to central Florida over into Louisiana up to southern Illinois, almost all of Indiana into southern Michigan into the southern tip of Ontario. It is fast growing of about 2 to 2.5 feet/year and lives about 200 years. Its unusual sort of squarish leaves turn a good yellow in autumn. Its flowers are solitary, erect, cup-shaped, 2 to 3 inch magnolia-like yellow-green with orange splotches that look tulip-like, as its Magnolia Family members. Its roots are shallow and deep, fibrous and fleshy and poorly branched. It is occasionally planted in landscapes in the East, and also in the Midwest where it does well in the neutral pH soils there. It needs acid soil for the seedlings to succeed, so its native range ends before crossing the northern Illinois border. It is a weak-wooded tree that is best to have other trees around for support, and it is not for small yards, but large properties. It is sold by some larger, diverse nurseries and native plant nurseries in the East and Midwest US.

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Honey bees get pollen and honeydew from this plant.

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This is the state tree of Tennessee as well as Kentucky. The tree is not really a poplar but a member of the magnolia family. It is an important honey tree and larval food plant for the Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. (TVA)

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Also the state tree of Indiana.

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We had two 25-year-old trees that both blew down in a straight-line windstorm. One of the saddest thing about it was the pair of Baltimore Orioles that continued to visit the blooms even after the trees had blown down. But I have six more saplings coming along nicely, although it will be a while before they bloom.

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