Friday: 23 May 2008
These are the flowers of Liriodendron tulipifera, Tulip Poplar, Tuliptree, Yellow-poplar, and any number of other common names. It’s not in the poplar family though, but rather the magnolia family and so shows the typical primitive evolutionary characters of the Magnoliaceae - tepals instead of sepals/petals, lots of stamens, and so forth.
Unless they’ve discovered the fallen flowers on the ground, many will never have seen them. I’m not sure what the age of the tree is before flowering for the first time but they are fast growers and so the flowers are typically way high up and not easily visible. The tree may be named for the shape of the leaves but the gaudy flowers hold up as well.
The flowers are on their way out here, but have been out since about the first of May. The tree is seldom found as a native west of the Mississippi, but does grow as far north as New England and even Ontario where flowering starts around the first of June.
Around here the abundant and generous flowers provide the main honeyflow for honeybees. For the casual beekeeper there’s usually some anxiety lest a late frost kill the flowers during development or presentation.
I hadn’t realized that there were distinct ecotypes of Liriodendron, but Forest Encyclopedia lists a number. The tree is not usually very moisture tolerant but there are populations known that are more tolerant than others, even found in swampy areas. This is a coastal plains ecotype, and its growth rate and ability to grow in sandy soil means it can be found south into Florida. Looks like there are photoperiod dependent ecotypes as well, distributed from the northern limit of the range (long days) to the southern limit (short days).
Hostplants database lists over a dozen species of moths and butterflies whose caterpillars use tulip poplar. These include a couple of swallowtail species, luna month, io moth, cecropia moth, and prometheus moth. There’s an obscure gracillariid, Phyllocnistis liriodendronella, whose name implies a very close relationship with tulip poplar.
This is a very common species around here, and I’ve certainly posted many photos of the gnarly appearance and cavities of our older specimens. They’re probably the same age as many of our other tree species, but have achieved a much greater size, a testament to the growth rate. Their presence is an indication of later succession, but not an indicator of climax, since the seedlings need a lot of light to survive and grow. So eventually the older trees, not being replaced by younger ones in the oldest parts of the forest, will die and the complexion of the forest will change considerably.
Unless they’ve discovered the fallen flowers on the ground, many will never have seen them. I’m not sure what the age of the tree is before flowering for the first time but they are fast growers and so the flowers are typically way high up and not easily visible. The tree may be named for the shape of the leaves but the gaudy flowers hold up as well.
The flowers are on their way out here, but have been out since about the first of May. The tree is seldom found as a native west of the Mississippi, but does grow as far north as New England and even Ontario where flowering starts around the first of June.
Around here the abundant and generous flowers provide the main honeyflow for honeybees. For the casual beekeeper there’s usually some anxiety lest a late frost kill the flowers during development or presentation.
I hadn’t realized that there were distinct ecotypes of Liriodendron, but Forest Encyclopedia lists a number. The tree is not usually very moisture tolerant but there are populations known that are more tolerant than others, even found in swampy areas. This is a coastal plains ecotype, and its growth rate and ability to grow in sandy soil means it can be found south into Florida. Looks like there are photoperiod dependent ecotypes as well, distributed from the northern limit of the range (long days) to the southern limit (short days).
Hostplants database lists over a dozen species of moths and butterflies whose caterpillars use tulip poplar. These include a couple of swallowtail species, luna month, io moth, cecropia moth, and prometheus moth. There’s an obscure gracillariid, Phyllocnistis liriodendronella, whose name implies a very close relationship with tulip poplar.
This is a very common species around here, and I’ve certainly posted many photos of the gnarly appearance and cavities of our older specimens. They’re probably the same age as many of our other tree species, but have achieved a much greater size, a testament to the growth rate. Their presence is an indication of later succession, but not an indicator of climax, since the seedlings need a lot of light to survive and grow. So eventually the older trees, not being replaced by younger ones in the oldest parts of the forest, will die and the complexion of the forest will change considerably.
