Wikipedia states: One of the largest of the native trees of the eastern United States, known to reach the height of one hundred and ninety feet, with a trunk ten feet in diameter; its ordinary height, seventy to one hundred feet. Prefers deep, rich, and rather moist soil; is common, though not abundant, nor is it solitary. Roots are fleshy. Growth is fairly rapid. Typical form of head is conical. * Bark: Brown, furrowed; branchlets smooth, lustrous, reddish at first, later dark gray, finally brown. Aromatic and bitter. * Wood: Light yellow to brown, sapwood creamy white; light, soft, brittle, close, straight-grained. Sp. gr., 0.4230; weight of cu. ft., 26.36 lbs. * Winter buds: Dark red, covered with a bloom, obtuse; scales becoming conspicuous stipules for the unfolding leaf, and persistent until the leaf is fully grown. Flower-bud enclosed in a two-valved, caducous bract. * Leaves: Alternate, simple, feather-veined, five to six inches long, as many broad, four-lobed, heart-shaped or truncate or slightly wedge-shaped at base, entire, and the apex cut across at a shallow angle, making the upper part of the leaf look square; midrib and primary veins prominent. They come out of the bud recurved by the bending down of the petiole near the middle bringing the apex of the folded leaf to the base of the bud, light green, when full grown are bright green, smooth and shining above, paler green beneath, with downy veins. In autumn they turn a clear, bright yellow. Petiole long, slender, angled. * Flowers: May. Perfect, solitary, terminal, greenish yellow, borne on stout peduncles, an inch and a half to two inches long, cup-shaped, erect, conspicuous. The bud is enclosed in a sheath of two triangular bracts which fall as the blossom opens. * Calyx: Sepals three, imbricate in bud, reflexed or spreading, somewhat veined, early deciduous. * Corolla: Cup-shaped, petals six, two inches long, in two rows, imbricate, hypogynous, greenish yellow, marked toward the base with yellow. Somewhat fleshy in texture. * Stamens: Indefinite, imbricate in many ranks on the base of the receptacle; filaments thread-like, short; anthers extrorse, long, two-celled, adnate; cells opening longitudinally. * Pistils: Indefinite, imbricate on the long slender receptacle. Ovary one-celled; style acuminate, flattened; stigma short, one-sided, recurved; ovules two. * Fruit: Narrow light brown cone, formed by many samara-like carpels which fall, leaving the axis persistent all winter. September, October. In the forest this tree reaches a size that may be properly called magnificent. The trunk rises like a Corinthian column, tall and slender, the branches come out symmetrically, and the whole contour of the tree, though somewhat formal, possesses a certain stately elegance. Tuliptree unfolding leaves The leaves are of unusual shape and develop in a most peculiar and characteristic manner. The leaf-buds are composed of scales as is usual, and these scales grow with the growing shoot. In this respect the buds do not differ from those of many other trees, but what is peculiar is that each pair of scales develops so as to form an oval envelope which contains the young leaf and protects it against changing temperatures until it is strong enough to sustain them without injury. When it has reached that stage the bracts separate, the tiny leaf comes out carefully folded along the line of the midrib, opens as it matures, and until it becomes full grown the bracts do duty as stipules, becoming an inch or more in length before they fall. The leaf is unique in shape, its apex is cut off at the end in a way peculiarly its own, the petioles are long, angled, and so poised that the leaves flutter independently, and their glossy surfaces so catch and toss the light that the effect of the foliage as a whole is much brighter than it otherwise would be. The flowers are large, brilliant, and on detached trees numerous. Their color is greenish yellow with dashes of red and orange, and their resemblance to a tulip very marked. They do not droop from the spray but sit erect. The fruit is a cone two to three inches long, made of a great number of thin narrow scales attached to a common axis. These scales are each a carpel surrounded by a thin membranous ring. Each cone contains sixty or seventy of these scales, of which only a few are productive. These fruit cones remain on the tree in varied states of dilapidation throughout the winter. Distribution: Found sparingly in New England, it is abundant on the southern shore of Lake Erie and westward to Illinois. It extends south to north Florida, and is rare west of the Mississippi River. Its finest development is in the Southern Appalachian mountains, where trees may exceed 170 feet in height. Ecology: Liriodendron tulipifera is generally considered to be shade-intolerant species that is most commonly associated with the first century of forest succession. In Appalachian forests, it is a dominant species during the 50-150 years of succession, but is absent or rare in stands of trees 500 years or older. On mesic, fertile soils, it often forms pure or nearly pure stands. It can and does persist in older forests when there is sufficient disturbance to generate large enough gaps for regeneration. All young tulip trees and most mature specimens are intolerant of prolonged inundation; however, a coastal plain swamp ecotype in the southeastern United States (Parks et al. 1994) is relatively flood-tolerant. This ecotype is recognized by its blunt-lobed leaves, which may have a red tint. Parts of east-central Florida near Orlando have an ecotype with similar-looking leaves (in most cases; see image gallery below) which flowers much earlier (usually in March, although flowering can begin in late January) than other types. This east central Florida ecotype seems to have the best ability to tolerate very wet conditions, where it may grow short pencil-like root structures (pneumatophores) similar to those produced by other swamp trees in warm climates. Some individuals retain their leaves all year unless a hard frost strikes. Liriodendron tulipifera produces a large amount of seed, which is dispersed by wind. The seeds typically travel a distance equal to 4-5 times the height of the tree, and remain viable for 4-7 years. The seeds are not one of the most important food sources for wildlife, but they are eaten by a number of birds and mammals. Vines, especially wild grapevines are known to be extremely damaging to young trees of this species. Vines are damaging both due to blocking out solar radiation, and increasing weight on limbs which can lead to bending of the trunk and/or breaking of limbs.