Tulip Poplar

 

Liriodendron tulipifera, Magnolia family (Magnoliaceae)

Leaves:
Leaves are tulip-shaped. Leaf has a v-shaped notched tip and four paired lobes. Leaf is shiny, dark green above; pale green beneath. Leaves turn yellow in autumn

Bark:
Bark is furrowed with narrow tight ridges.

Flowers:
Flowers are cup-shaped with six rounded petals. Flower petals are pale green or yellow with an orange band at the base. Produce large quantities of nectar. Blooms in spring.

Fruit:
Fruit is cone-like, light brown, 1 to 2 inches long. Each fruit is composed of many nutlets. Each nutlet contains 1 or 2 seeds


Tulip Poplar flowers are pale green or yellow with
an orange band at the base. (photo source #7)


Bark is furrowed with narrow tight ridges.
(photo source #17)


Tulip Poplar leaf.
(photo source #13)


Tulip Poplar leaf, fruit, and twig.
(photo source #12)


Tulip Poplar fruit is light
brown and cone-like.
(photo source #7)

Photo Sources:
7.  Little, E. L.  1995.  National Audubon Society field guide to North American trees, eastern region.  Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 
12.  Petrides, G.A. and J. Wehr.  1998.  A field guide to eastern trees.  Peterson field guide series.  Houghton-Mifflin Company, Boston.
13.  Symonds, G.W.D. and S.V. Chelminski.  1958.  The tree identification book.  William Morrow and Company, New York.
17.  Vanderbilt University, www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species.