Tulip Tree, BAD CHOICE FOR THE small YARD

NOTE: I am having trouble staying connected to the editor function on WIX which affected my ability to build the essay this month. I spent as much time reloading as writing.  Frustrating understates the experience!

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Liriodendron tulipifera is a well-known tree but few people (including far too many gardeners) do not understand or use scientific names, thus the binomial (Liriodendron tulipifera) must seem like Latin to them, which is exactly what it is -- botanical Latin to be precise. Most plants have multiple common names, some have dozens. The names, which frequently differ by region, can be descriptively useful, even witty, but also confusing. Scientific names, which can be witty too, are unique and universal, thus provide certainty. The scientific names are fun and easy -- an impediment only to the lazy and ignorant (i.e., most of the population). [Mad Botanist candor, which can be both painful and refreshing, but I digress.]

Most of you will know of this wonder of the forest by one or more of its popular names, especially (American) tulip tree, tulip poplar, yellow-poplar -- the botanical binomial literally translates to lily wood (the genus) and the species to tulip like or bearing. A member of the magnolia family (Magnoliaceae), tulip tree is NOT a true poplar (or tulip) just as Eastern red cedar is not a true cedar. The name is based on the flower as well as color of tulip poplar's fine-grained wood -- pale greenish yellow and occasionally with some degree of grayness.

Tulip trees are fast-growing and can exceed 150 feet making it among the tallest species in the Eastern U.S. and one of the tallest deciduous species in the world. Native to most of Eastern North America, tulip trees thrive in the coves of the Appalachian Mountains, there attaining record heights (approaching 200 feet). In such light starved conditions the specimens may be limbless from ground level to well more than 80+ feet. Furthermore, the trunk can exceed five feet (DBH) and, if optimally located and old, sometimes a few feet more!!! Looking up the bole of one of these naked giants from its base is awe-inspiring. The canopy is narrower than tall and the trunk is famously straight (see pic above). Boat tree or canoe wood are additional names formerly applied to the species since, given the low density of the wood, its strength, as well as the size and straightness of the trunk, it was commonly used to build dugout canoes.

Standing in an old-growth forest, especially under yellow-poplars (tulip trees), is a rare and primal experience. I recall my second ever professional botany field trip on my birthday in 1975, with Mr. Lathrop's local flora class, to Beall Woods* in SE Illinois along the Wabash River. It was a windless perfect spring Saturday morning when one of the giant tulip trees in the floodplain forest suddenly fell. The surreal experience started with a series of strange noises that increased in intensity and rapidity until the crashing concluded with an earthshaking thud, followed by leaves floating to the ground, then back to normal, with bird calls signaling the return to calm. * NOTE: while the official name of the site uses Woods, due to regional jargon, it is but one entity, not separate, so wood (sing.) would be correct -- see my collective nouns posting and think Winnie the Pooh and friends in their Hundred Acre Wood. Beall Wood is over 600 acres.

Tulip tree is the State Tree for Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee and that is part of the problem. The public presumes that that status, or the fact that it is native to the region, implies and automatically makes it a good tree species to plant in the average yard. NOT SO!!! Here is why - (1) size (indeterminate growth, a potential giant), (2) very messy (on a scale of 1-10 I would suggest 9, perhaps 10), (3) since tulip trees have a shallow root system and can be tall, they are prone to falling, (4) it is difficult to plant under, and (5) as is characteristic of magnolias, the wood and branches are weak and prone to snapping in high wind or with ice and snow. Tulip tree is attractive, a fabulous lumber species and a great forest or park plant but a VERY poor choice for the average yard or for street usage. I would never recommend one for a property less than one acre nor close to or on the west side of a building. I have spoken to many homeowners who agree, having made the mistake of choosing one to plant or inheriting one or more with the purchase of a property. Additional tulip tree problems include proneness to fungal diseases (esp. verticillium and mildew) as well as aphids, thus sooty mold is a common issue. Some people choose tulip tree based solely on the attractive and distinctive leaves or because of the magnificent flowers (see pic above) which are produced in late spring -- in Indiana that usually is in early May -- after leaves form/open but, because of that sequencing, placement and coloration, the flowering (anthesis) often goes unnoticed. Moreover, while the short-lived tulip resembling flowers are appealing, after a few years one will only see them once the tepals disarticulate up in the canopy and have fallen to the ground (see pic above). As I often told my daughters when they were young and developing, it is more than being beautiful. Personality/behavior is a more important consideration, people and plants. Unfortunately, most people are unwilling / incapable of making objective assessment (are NOT good judges, gardening as well as life in general) and tulip tree usage is a prime example. Their idea/want so must be good and/or based on incomplete or inaccurate info and/or not considering the whole profile/story before deciding. -- BTW, there is a dwarf form of tulip tree, but (1) it is hard to find, (2) not that small and (3) has all the issues of the full-size form. And, while a good choice for the IN state tree, I am not alone in thinking that the potentially even more massive American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) would have been an as good or better choice.

Finally, fleshy flowers like those produced by magnolias and their relatives are ancient and pollination is mostly by the clumsy beetles that tear apart the floral organs during their gluttonous rampage. Furthermore, due to their heavy nectar production, the tulip tree flowers also attract bees. The blossoms are scented, but only on open grown (low branch) specimens is that experience ever possible for humans. I also find the distinctive buds attractive and interesting -- they are large, appear to be scaleless and are spathulate, resembling a duck's bill.

Praise be to Liriodendron tulipifera but NOT as a small lot ornamental or shade tree.