{"id":21169,"date":"2023-02-22T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=21169"},"modified":"2025-07-30T15:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T19:04:00","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-tulip-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-tulip-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Tulip Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.<\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to Trees of Indiana web series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book,\u00a0paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we meet Tulip tree or\u00a0Liriodendron tulipifera<\/em>.\"drawing<\/a><\/p>\n

The state tree of Indiana, also known as the tulip poplar or yellow poplar, however, is actually more closely related to the magnolia family than the poplar family. It is easily identified by its large, simple tulip shaped leaves held alternately on long leaf stems. The leaves, which feature three lobes, including the top lobe which is widely notched in the middle, turn from glossy green to a golden yellow in the fall.<\/p>\n

The bark on young trees is smooth and gray with streaks of white between the ridges, while the bark of older trees is gray-brown and features deep, long running ridges. The trunk is very straight and column-like as it grows toward the sunlight and the tree self-prunes lower branches.<\/p>\n

In the spring, the tulip tree produces colorful green and yellow, tulip like flowers with an orange band at the base of each petal, which bloom in May or June, but are often found high up on the tree.<\/p>\n

The cone-shaped fruit is a collection of winged seeds that resembles a small, dry pineapple, approximately two-inches in length, which sits upright on the branches.<\/p>\n

Tulip trees, which grow 70 to 90 feet tall, are often among the tallest trees in Indiana woodland areas as they are shade intolerant and prefer to grow toward the light. They can often be found in woodlands as large as three to four feet in width on the trunk. Tulip trees prefer acidic, moist, well-drained soil, but can tolerate alkaline soil.<\/p>\n

The natural range of the tulip tree is the eastern United States. Its western reach extends from spots in\u00a0central Louisiana across the eastern edge of Missouri and Illinois up through Indiana and the southern part of Michigan, and reaches eastward across the gulf states and the panhandle of Florida. It can be found throughout much of the Atlantic coast, reaching northward to Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut.<\/p>\n

The Morton Arboretum<\/a>\u00a0warns that tulip trees are highly susceptible to ice damage and are marginally hard with weak wood and branch structure.<\/p>\n