By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
In recent columns, we’ve looked at Kentucky state symbols for the bird, which is the Eastern cardinal, and the state wild animal, the gray squirrel. This week, we’ll learn about the tall and majestic tulip poplar, our state tree.
Also known as the yellow poplar, tuliptree, fiddletree, or whitewood, along with its scientific name, Liriodendran tulipifera, it is a fast grower and can reach heights well over a hundred feet. Its leaves have a somewhat unique shape, with four lobes, resembling tulips. The tulip poplar produces, at a certain age of maturation (10-15 years or longer, ugh!), tulip-shaped flowers that are yellow with green stripes. Birds are attracted by the flowers, including the ruby-throated hummingbird, and the tree has been called the “host plant for the state butterfly, the viceroy butterfly.”
The bark is gray and a bit rough in texture and its wood is durable. Reportedly, it’s the tallest eastern hardwood tree, and is found all over the eastern part of the U.S.
I contacted an expert naturalist, Craig Caudill, founder and director of the Nature Reliance School, for his insights on this special tree. Caudill, who is quick to admit he is a “tree nerd,” calls the tulip poplar a “remarkable species,” heaping much praise on it.
“Despite its name, it’s not a true poplar but a proud member of the magnolia family,” said Caudill. “Its distinctive leaf shape–some say it looks like a cat head outline–and duckbill terminal head make it easy to identify year-round, and its beautiful spring flowers add vibrant color to our woodlands. Even in the winter, the dried flowers help with identification.
“Historically, indigenous peoples used the bark to craft canoes and containers, and the inner bark held medicinal value. As a fast-growing pioneer species, it plays a critical role in reforesting disturbed areas. Though it grows quickly, it’s also long-lived, (and) some individuals can reach 200 years of age. Its wood splits easily, which made it especially useful to early settlers.”
Today’s designated state tree of Kentucky traveled a bit of a circuitous path to get there. The state’s General Assembly voted for such in 1956, with robust competition from both the sycamore and Indian cigar tree. However, an embarrassing clerical error failed to make it officially part of the Kentucky statutes. But even with that oversight, the tulip poplar was informally known as our state tree until 1976, when a push by celebrated Courier-Journal columnist Joe Creason before he died in 1974 convinced the state’s political leaders to change the symbol designation to the Kentucky coffee tree. It stayed that way for the next 18 years, but in 1994, it was—this time officially–changed back in House Bill #128 to the tulip poplar, incidentally much to the dislike of Governor Brereton Jones and some others!
At that point, however, the coffee tree didn’t totally fade away from public recognition. It officially became the “Kentucky Heritage Tree.” Go figure.
Along with Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana have adopted the tulip poplar as their state tree. Some in Kentucky had argued previously that having the same state tree as two other close by states was a reason NOT to have it. Go figure again.
Here are some more telling features of the tulip poplar:
• Can grow up to 24 inches in a season
• Today, besides furniture, the wood is also used for flooring, paper, and making laminate
• After early American settlers sent saplings back to Europe in the 1700s, and it became a prolific grower in the United Kingdom and France
• Nectar from the tree is used to produce a delicacy, “gourmet honey”
• Adding to what Craig Caudill mentioned, the bark was once boiled to make a medicinal tea to treat malaria and typhoid, and early settlers boiled it even further to make a cough syrup
• Their trunks have been known to extend sixteen feet in diameter
• The oldest known tulip poplar is in the Queens section of New York City, thought to be 350 to 450 years-old, last recorded to stand 124 feet high
The Kentucky Division of Forestry works to preserve the tulip poplar and biodiversity for future generations by monitoring forest health, managing invasive species, and providing technical assistance to landowners.
I planted two of these beauties in my front yard about eight years ago. Each started growing somewhat slowly but are now rapidly growing taller and thicker. I’m looking forward to the onset of the blooms in a few years. I also planted a Kentucky coffee tree a few years after placing the tulip poplars. (I guess I wanted to be well-covered in state trees.) For those of you who, like me, want to grow tulip poplars on your land, here are some important items to know, according to an article I read at housegrail.com:
• They need at least six hours of full, unfiltered sun each day
• Plant them in loamy, moist soil that drains well
• Can stand short drought conditions if necessary
• Will grow best in hardiness zones four through nine
• Essential to work the soil well before planting, and they like slightly acidic soil
• Need room to grow and spread their beautiful limbs!
• Helpful to stake young saplings to grow straight
• Check with your local county agricultural extensions to get advice on protection from insects and disease
I also found a great site on the species and its uses beyond Kentucky.
That’s all for now, but I’d like to know your experiences with Kentucky’s state tree. Contact me at sflairty2001@yahoo.com.