There is a certain resemblance to a tulip, especially in the unopened buds. Liriodendron tulipifera, Linnaeus named it, combining two flowers: "Lillytree, tulipbearer". Most of the time, I try to use the official names of trees, but I refuse to use the checklist name of Yellow-poplar for this species. Tuliptree describes it well, and links to the scientific name. You're not apt to confuse it with the herbaceous plant, but you might get mixed up with the real Poplars, which include the Cottonwoods and Aspens, and are short lived successional species, with catkin flowers. Liriodendron is a climax species. It takes a dominant place in the forest, and stays there for a few hundred years, if it's not cut for lumber. Its quick growth and soft wood are vaguely poplaresque, but those trees are members of the Willow family, while the Tuliptree belongs to the Magnolias, which explains the big flowers. The Cucumbertree is a Magnolia proper, but Liriodendron, marked by its unusual lobed leaves, has its own genus, with only one other, Asian, member.










The Tuliptree is certainly more vigorous than the quick blooming Cucumbertree; the flowers just keep opening and opening...