Tulip Poplar Tree

A member of the “Poplar” family, the tulip tree is fast-growing and strong, allowing it to reach heights of 150 ft. The tulip tree produces a showy, pale yellow flower reminiscent of a tulip, from which it derives its name. The extremely straight trunk and grain made the tulip tree the preferred tree to make molds to produce hats in the early 20^th century. Danbury, CT had a plethora of hat makers at the time (hence its nickname “Hat City”) and these establishments came close to eliminating the tulip tree in Western CT.

Tulip tree has distinctive, large, four-lobed, square-shaped leaves, making it easy to identify. The bark is gray and cracked in long vertical lines. The trunk of the full grown plant is long and bare, with branches and foliage only at the very top. Its springtime flowers closely resemble tulips, and are light yellow in color, and the tree turns a fiery yellow-orange in autumn.