TREE: Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip-Poplar)

Tried and True Native Plants of the Mid-Atlantic

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Common throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region, Tuliptree is aptly named from the shape of its flowers and leaves to the samara whorls persisting like wooden tulips until spring. It is an excellent shade or ornamental tree for a large property, sited best on lower or concave slopes. It is the favorite tree of Mr. President and the First Lady, bald eagles nesting 80 feet high in a Tulip-Poplar in the U.S. National Arboretum.

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) bark detail in March.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) leaves in April.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) woods in April.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) flower detail in May.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) flower in May.
Photo © Robert Kline

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) flowers in May.
Photo © Mary Free

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) developing fruit in May.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Liriodendron tulipifera (Tuliptree) woods
at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in May.
Photo © Elaine Mills

Aggregated winged achenes (samaras) of native Liriodendron tulipifera (tuliptree) in September.
Photo © Mary Free

The fallen samaras of native Liriodendron tulipifera (tuliptree)
aggregated in “cones” and in a base whorl in October.
Photo © Elaine Mills

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