Savannah's Park and Tree Commission thought the tulip tree an appealing addition to the city's parks, making a concerted effort to add specimens of that variety to their planting strategy from the late 1890s, shortly after its creation to tend to Savannah's trees and parks.
The tulip tree is a native deciduous American tree, its natural range extending from the United States into eastern Canada. It is a large-growing tree, commonly growing to over 100ft tall, and may grow to almost twice that under favorable circumstances, making it one of the southeast's tallest native trees.
The tulip tree has a spread of around 30-50ft, showing a pyramidal form in its youth, which later develops into its mature oval shape. It is most easily identified, however (when not in flower) by the distinctive shape of its leaves, which look like a maple leaf with the top cut off.
The tulip tree, known botanically as Liriodendron tulipifera, has many alternate names.
It is sometimes called the canoetree, a name derived from the use American Indians sometimes made of it. In its Appalachian habitat, the tree grows especially large (and straight), and made an excellent material from which to fashion canoes, sometimes big enough to carry well over a dozen passengers.
The tulip tree is often also referred to as a poplar, though it and the poplar are not closely related. Supposedly the way its leaves move in the wind is reminiscent of the latter tree, from which characteristic it acquired the name.
Its most common epithet, however, is derived from the appearance of its flowers. Large and yellowish-green, their shape is very much like that of the well known flower of the tulip.
The tulip tree is often employed as an ornamental tree, in both North America and Europe. In Europe, the Asian species of tulip tree (Liriodendron chinense, native to China and Vietnam) is sometimes reckoned superior.
The American species, however, is also an excellent specimen tree, usually grown as a single example in a park or garden setting, where it grows rapidly, reaching a height of 40ft in only fifteen years.
The tulip tree's very large mature size makes its employment as a street tree less practicable, as does its preference for full sun, and its propensity to deposit large quantities of fruit, flower matter, twigs and leaves.