Four lobes and a square, notched end, up to 20 cm long, smooth-edged and pale underneath, on a long, slender stalk.
Introduced · Up to 36 m
Tulip tree
Liriodendron tulipifera · Magnoliaceae
Tulip tree is a tall, fast-growing tree planted in large gardens and parks. Its leaves have four lobes and a square end, as if cut off with scissors.
Know it byLeavesFour lobes, up to 20 cm, smooth-edged, on a long slender stalk.
FlowersUpright, about 5 cm, greenish yellow with an orange band.Seed conesAbout 5 cm, thin winged seeds packed round a central spike.
LeavesFour lobes, up to 20 cm, smooth-edged, on a long slender stalk.FlowersUpright, about 5 cm, greenish yellow with an orange band.Seed conesAbout 5 cm, thin winged seeds packed round a central spike.Then check · Stalked budsDark red, flattened buds with a pale, waxy coating, each standing off the smooth, shiny shoot on a short stalk.
How to identify a tulip tree
Upright and shaped like tulips, about 5 cm, greenish yellow with an orange band near the base.
Narrow, upright brown cones about 5 cm long, made of many thin winged seeds packed around a central spike.
Learn the tulip tree in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely
Every part, in photographs
When to look
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In leaf
Flowers
Seed cones
In leaf: April to November · Flowers: May to July · Seed cones: July to February
Where you’ll find it
Planted in large gardens and parks, and now and then in streets. It is quite frequent in warmer areas, and found here and there all across Britain. It needs deep, rich soil, and on poor, dry or chalky ground it survives but struggles.
What it’s mistaken for
- London planeBoth are large planted trees whose lobed leaves sit singly along the shoot. Leaf. Tulip tree: smooth the whole way along. London plane: three or more teeth on each lobe.
- SycamoreBoth make a big dome in a park, with lobed leaves. Leaf. Tulip tree: smooth the whole way along. Sycamore: coarse teeth, blunt and rounded at the tip.
More in the family
In the app
There’s more of the tulip tree in Treely
- Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
- Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
- A short round each dayUntil you know the tulip tree on sight, from any side
- Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.
Photographs: Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), philippthompson (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.