Yellow Buckeye
Aesculus flava Large tree Zones 3–8 50–75 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, the Appalachians, stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
A native we do not grow
Tuliptree
Liriodendron tulipifera. Large tree, 60 to 150 feet, zones 4 to 9; full sun or part shade; average ground.
We do not grow tuliptree, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.
At a glance
| Other names | Tulip poplar, yellow poplar, whitewood, blue-poplar, canoewood, canary whitewood, North American whitewood, lyre tree, saddle tree |
|---|---|
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 60 to 150 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 60 |
| Zones | 4 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Average ground |
| Growth | Fast |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Showy flowers, fall color, wildlife value, honey tree |
| Flowers | April to June |
| Fruit | Cones, August to November |
| First crop | 15 to 20 years (trees as young as 9 have borne fruit) |
| Pollination | One bears; a second improves the crop. Each flower carries both male and female parts, and a lone tree sets some seed from its own pollen, but more seeds fill when pollen comes from another tree. |
| Lifespan | Typically lives 200 years, and the oldest dated one reached 509. Only a tiny share of trees has ever been ring-counted or cross-dated. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on tuliptree says: "As with all members of the Magnolia family, tuliptree’s fleshy root system prefers being transplanted in early spring, rather than autumn." |
| Planting season | Spring. UF/IFAS Extension adds that container trees can go in at any time in the South. |
| Black walnut | Tolerant, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “tulip tree” |
| Ground | Rich moist slopes, the Appalachians, stream banks and floodplain forests |
| Native in | 25 states and the District of Columbia |
Tuliptree is native in 25 states and the District of Columbia: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in Iowa, Texas and Vermont, where it is naturalized, not native.
What our tools say
How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil How far from a house, wires and a septic field What grows with it in the wild and in a yard When to plant it where you live When it flowers and fruits, month by month How to sow its seed, with dates for your place How many to plant for a crop of seed Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes How old one is, from its trunk How a big one scores against the champion trees
For the same ground, we grow
These trees we grow share the most of tuliptree's natural communities in the wild, by the companion species tool's rules.
American Beech
Fagus grandifolia Large tree Zones 3–9 50–80 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, the Appalachians and floodplain forests in the wild.
Bitternut Hickory
Carya cordiformis Large tree Zones 4–9 50–80 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Black Maple
Acer nigrum Large tree Zones 3–8 60–75 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
September Elm
Ulmus serotina Large tree Zones 4–8 60–70 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, stream banks and floodplain forests in the wild.
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis Large tree Zones 3–7 40–100 ft
Shares rich moist slopes, the Appalachians and stream banks in the wild.
Read from
Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, Virginia Tech's dendrology site, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service and UF/IFAS Extension.