June 1, 2016

Liriodendron tulipifera.

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"The large, brilliant flowers are pale green or yellow with an orange or red band on the petals, they are very similar to the tulip, hence the common name of tulip tree...."

Photo is by Meade, texted to me yesterday from somewhere in the neighborhood.

10 comments:

CStanley said...

A remarkably fast growng tree. We have to make sure we pluck up saplings when they sprout, lest we end up with trees growing n inappropriate places. The ones we purposely left in place, maybe 10 years ago, are at least 50 ft tall now and had reached about 30 ft after just a few years.

MadisonMan said...

Lousy bark on that tree though.

traditionalguy said...

In Georgia those are called Poplar Trees. Not because we like them , but because the logs added to a fire add the sound of firecrackers going off. The wood is light weight compared to oak and hickory.

Grant said...

You usually can't see the flowers unless they're blown off the tree. Is that what happened here?

Meade said...

It was still on the tree, Grant. I had to reach way up to take the shot though. Very heroic of me.

Grant said...

I've only seen them in the woods, where they seldom have branches low enough to reach. Unless you're exceptionally heroic.

Meade said...

Just average.

Meade said...

Seriously though, you're right — the flowers are held horizontally so we usually don't see them from the ground.

Christy said...

Self pruning trees, an arborist told me after a storm as we stood in my back yard, looking at about a third of the top of a hundred foot tulip poplar which covered my entire back yard and had arrowed nicely through my garage roof. Fast burning wood. Just perfect when one needs ambiance more than heat. Burns out just about the time the evening is over.

Fritz said...

They have a nasty habit of falling over or breaking off in wind storms. And their wood is soft and light and low BTU as firewood. We've had two come down in tropical storms in our lots and I've had to cut them up. At least they're easy to cut.