Artist's reconstruction of Archaeanthus. (Credit: Photo-by David Dilcher)
Posted on 09/16/2013 8:09:45 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
The modern-day tulip tree, state tree of Indiana as well as Kentucky and Tennessee, can trace its lineage back to the time of the dinosaurs, according to newly published research by an Indiana University paleobotanist and a Russian botanist.
The tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipfera, has been considered part of the magnolia family. But David Dilcher of Indiana University Bloomington and Mikhail S. Romanov of the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden in Moscow show that it is closely related to fossil plant specimens from the Lower Cretaceous period.
Their findings suggest the tulip tree line diverged from magnolias more than 100 million years ago and constitutes an independent family, Liriodendraceae, with two living species: one in the Eastern United States and the other in Eastern China. The article, "Fruit structure in Magnoliaceae s.l. and Archaeanthus and their relationships," appears in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Botany.
The tulip tree, sometimes called tulip poplar or yellow poplar, is one of the largest trees of Eastern North America, sometimes reaching more than 150 feet in height. It is native from southern New England westward to Michigan and south to Louisiana and Florida.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Artist's reconstruction of Archaeanthus. (Credit: Photo-by David Dilcher)
Tulip Tree Reveals Mitochondrial Genome of Ancestral Flowering Plant
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130415100010.htm
In before the “Earth is 6000 years old” crowd.
And provide another $50,000 in grant money..
I know there are a couple of them in my Michigan hometown. They really stand out because they’re so tall and straight.
Yes Eastern China and Eastern USA are connected coz they have Communists in both Bejing and Albany.
There is a Tulip Poplar in front of my home. When I bought the place my neighbor told me that there were only two of these trees in the city. It gets quite cold and snowy most winters here and I guess these trees don’t do well in that climate because their wood is soft. I am always picking up large branches after high winds. Late May to early June green, orange, and yellow flowers pop out. A very unique tree in these parts.
I have 2 that are doing great. The state sells all kinds of dry root trees in the spring...all of my Michigan blue spruce are over 10 foot tall in 9 years. One tulip tree is going better than the other, its about 12 foot tall.They sell the trees in bunches of 12. All of the one’s I planted survived.
They are abundant in South Mississippi and L.A.
Every Summer my tulip trees are home to zillions of aphids who drip a sticky dew on everything under them.
May be as much a mess as dinosaur droppings
Looks like fine dining for our friends, the honeybee.
That blossom sure does resemble a magnolia flower.
I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland (which means I live on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay). My flower beds always sprout lots of seedlings, especially oaks and, unfortunately, Norway maples. But, while tulip trees are not uncommon in the state of Maryland, we have not had voluteer tulip trees — until the past two years. I am not sure why, but we have had tulip trees popping up all over the yard.
You left out Washington, DC!
Seriously, though, I have several of these trees on my property. I find babies and then dig them up and replant them in better locations. One I replanted about 13-14 years ago is well over 40 feet. When they have room to spread out, they have a beautiful pyramid shape. I’ll never live to see it, but someday I hope these trees get up to 150 feet tall.
My grandparents had one in their yard. It was a mess to rake under.
100 million years of raking...
{{shudder}}
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