Liriodendron tulipifera L.
HABIT.—A large tree 70-100 feet high, with a columnar trunk 2-5 feet in diameter; forming a rather open, conical crown of slender branches.
LEAVES.—Alternate, simple, 5-6 inches long and broad; 4-lobed; entire; lustrous, dark green above, pale or glaucous beneath, turning clear yellow in autumn; petioles slender, angled, 5-6 inches long.
FLOWERS.—May-June, after the leaves; perfect; terminal; solitary on stout peduncles; tulip-shaped, greenish yellow, 1-1/2-2 inches long; sepals 3, greenish, early deciduous; petals 6, in 2 rows, greenish yellow with an orange spot at the base, early deciduous; stamens numerous, somewhat shorter than the petals; pistils numerous, clinging together about a central axis; ovary 1-celled.
FRUIT.—September-October; a narrow, light brown cone 2-1/2-3 inches long, composed of numerous carpels; carpels long, flat, with a 1-2-seeded nutlet at the base, separating from the slender spindle at maturity.
WINTER-BUDS.—Terminal bud 1/2-1 inch long, obtuse, flattish, dark red, covered with a glaucous bloom.
BARK.—Twigs smooth, lustrous, reddish, becoming brownish, and at length gray; ashy gray, thin and scaly on young trunks, becoming thick, brownish, and deeply furrowed with age.
WOOD.—Light, soft, brittle, weak, easily worked, light yellow or brown, with thin, cream-white sapwood.
DISTRIBUTION.—Lower Peninsula south of the Grand River. Formerly common, but becoming rare.
HABITAT.—Prefers deep, rich, rather moist soil, but adapts itself readily to any good, light soil.