TULIP TREE (Liriodendron tulipifera)
At Albury Park, Surrey
Height 96 ft., girth 11 ft. 8 in.
The Tulip Tree
The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is descended from an extremely remote ancestry, and remains one of the stateliest denizens of the North American river valleys, ranging from 150 to 190 feet high. The form of its leaves is unique among those of forest trees, being lyrate, ending in two pointed or rounded lobes considerably longer than the midrib. Ruskin declared it to be the only leaf which did not display one form or other of a Gothic arch—round or pointed. These leaves turn a beautiful clear yellow in autumn, and in summer the flowers, in size and shape like those of a tulip, attract numbers of bees. If only they were a little more gaily painted, the tulip tree would be among the showiest of park trees; but the petals are of a dull greenish white, with a splash of orange at the base of the interior of each, where one can't see it—unless one happens to be a bee.
However, its flowers apart, a well-grown tulip tree is a beautiful object at all seasons, owing, in winter, to the tracery of its smooth, grey branches—in summer, to its rich, bright green foliage, and in autumn to the splendour of its decay.
It was probably brought to England in the reign of Henry VIII. or Elizabeth by one of those botanists—Tradescant or another—who quietly pursued their useful labours while Christians were hurrying each other to the stake, and politicians were chopping off the heads of inconvenient opponents.
In lofty towers let Pallas take her rest,
Whilst shady groves of all things please us best.