One of the
tallest straightest and potentially largest trees in the eastern half of the
country is yellow-poplar, Liriodendron
tulipifera, which is also known as tulip-poplar because the flowers look
like tulips while the truncate lobed leaves even resemble a tulip silhouette. The leaves are usually 4 lobed, but I have
seen leaves with 2 lobes and 6 lobes.
The stumps can regenerate with suckers and these are often recognizable
as trees with multiple trunks.
Additionally a large seedbank sprouts after a timber harvest, perhaps
due to sufficient light getting trough the canopy, producing a dense thicket of
saplings. The least vigorous seedlings
usually die about the time they reach the idea size for a hiking stick, but
they absolutely should not be used that way because when needed most for
support they will likely break and that is often into three sharply pointed
pieces, which could impale in a remote location making for a very bad day. The height and tendency to break does make
them vulnerable to lightning and being topped in wind storms. The largest yellow-poplar in Alabama, shown here, is in
the Sypsey Wilderness Area, and it is also the tallest in the champion tree
list at 153 feet, while the girth is 252 inches and the limb spread is 73 feet,
although either of these later two measurements and in some cases the point total
is exceeded, which is a feat more often done by oak trees than everything else
combined. Much of the logging equipment
in use today is incapable of handling trees that large.
