Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/35

TULIP TULIP TREE rapidly push up and produce leaves and flow- er; it also contains, between the scales, an- other bud, which during the brief growing sea- son, while the first named is blooming, will in- Parrot Tulip. crease rapidly, replacing that, and be ready to bloom the next year; besides these, the bud of a third generation may be found, ready in time to take the place of the second bud. When a tulip bulb is planted, it produces its flower and leaves ; its foliage, after flourishing for a while, suddenly dies off, and a bulb may be dug up apparently like the one planted ; but that has been expended in producing the flow- er, and this bulb is due to the increase of the second or replacing bud, which will be found to contain the rudiments of next spring's bloom. At the base of the bulb appear small offsets or bulblets, which, if broken off and cultivated for several years, will grow to a flowering size, and re- produce the peculiar variety ; in Holland the number of these bulblets is increased by cutting off the flow- er buds as soon as they appear. In care- ful tulip culture, the bed is made very light and rich, and the bulbs are set in October, 8 in. apart and 3J in. deep ; some take pains to envelop each bulb in sand ; the bed is covered with litter, and left until spring, when it is uncovered ; as the flowers are about to open, the bed is covered with an awning of cotton cloth, to prevent the sun from injuring the flowers, and thus prolong their duration ; when the bloom is over, the seed vessels are cut off, Late or Show Tulip. and the plants cultivated until the leaves fade, which they will do in a few weeks, when the bulbs are taken up, dried, and kept in a cool, dry place until time to plant again. Early sorts are often left in the ground year after year ; and though they do not give so fine a bloom as when the bulbs are lifted, they make acceptable spring flowers. Like other bulbs, tulips are readily forced in the greenhouse or in window culture (see HYACINTH) ; the early sorts are preferred for this, and three bulbs may be put into a six-inch pot. TULIP TREE, the popular name for lirioden- dron tulipifera, a large tree of the magnolia family; one of its distinctive characters, its large and showy flowers, being recognized in its botanical and common names. The genua (named from Gr. Mpiov, a lily, and 6tv6pov, a tree) is exclusively American, and includes only this species. It is found from Canada to Florida, and is more abundant in parts of the west, as Michigan and southern Illinois, than at the east; with the exception of the button- wood, it is the largest of our deciduous trees, reaching the height of 140 ft., with a diameter of 8 or 9 ft. The bark on young branches is Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). light brown and smooth, but on old trees it is much broken by longitudinal fissures. In spring the development of no tree can be studied with greater interest ; as the large leaf buds open they are found to be covered by two stipules, coherent by their edges to form a sac, and beneath these the young leaf, to which they belong, will be found closely folded, and its petiole bent over ; beneath this is an- other leaf similarly covered and packed away, and so on; as the leaf develops, the stipules increase in size, and soon fall away, leaving a scar just above the petiole. The leaves, on long petioles, are 4 in. or more across, with two lobes near the base and two at the apex, where the leaf appears as if it had been abruptly cut off, leaving a very broad, shallow notch. The flowers are solitary and terminal ; the bud is enclosed by a sheath which is pushed off as the flower opens; they consist of three long