Tree · Magnoliaceae
Tuliptree
Liriodendron tulipifera
Tuliptree is recorded as native to 26 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 983 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Tuliptree at a glance
- Native in
- 983 counties, across 26 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b PLANTS minimum temperature −18°F
- Mature height
- 120 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 5b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −18°F; zone 5b winters bottom out at −15°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Tuliptree is recorded as native to 26 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 983 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 983 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 64 counties
- Arkansas 20 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 1 county
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 21 counties
- Georgia 40 counties
- Illinois 27 counties
- Indiana 68 counties
- Kentucky 111 counties
- Louisiana 31 counties
- Massachusetts 7 counties
- Michigan 18 counties
- Mississippi 67 counties
- Missouri 13 counties
- New Jersey 19 counties
- New York 37 counties
- North Carolina 65 counties
- Ohio 84 counties
- Pennsylvania 62 counties
- Rhode Island 1 county
- South Carolina 24 counties
- Tennessee 53 counties
- Vermont 2 counties
- Virginia 100 counties
- West Virginia 47 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 120 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 30 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 6.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- High
- Minimum root depth
- 32 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −18°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 5b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 150
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Mid Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Magnoliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- LITU
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Liriodendron tulipifera (PLANTS symbol LITU).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources