Liriodendron tulipifera L.

vernacular tuliptree — species · Magnoliaceae

USDA: LITU
GBIF: 3152861
Rank: species

tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera) — Platephotograph · Kew on FlickrCC BY-NC-SA source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Magnoliaceae Juss.
Genus: Liriodendron

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 1 county across 1 state

Legend Native · 1 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Low
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Medium
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -18 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 150 min.
Precipitation: 30–80 in/yr
pH range: 4.5–6.5
Root depth: 32 in min.
Fertility need: High
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Rapid
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 120 ft
Height @ 20 y: 50 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 14,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: Low
Palatable, human: No
Lumber: Yes
Fuelwood: Low
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1 county across 1 state.

Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾

Providence 44007

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/LITU ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3152861 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z