Nat. Ord. (Natural Order) Magnoliace�. Lin. Syst. (Linnean System) Polyandria, Polygynia. The Tulip tree belongs to the same natural order as the Magnolias, and is not inferior to most of the latter in all that entitles them to rank among our very finest forest trees. The taller Magnolias, as we have already remarked, do not grow naturally within 100 or 150 miles of the sea-coast; and the Tulip tree may be considered as in some measure supplying their place in the middle Atlantic states. West of the Connecticut river, and south of the sources of the Hudson, this fine tree may be often seen reaching in warm and deep alluvial soils 80 or 90 feet in height. But in the western states, where indeed the growth of forest trees is astonishingly vigorous, this tree far exceeds that altitude. The elder Michaux mentions several which he saw in Kentucky, that were fifteen and sixteen feet in girth; and his son confirms the measurement of one, three miles and a half from Louisville, which, at five feet from the ground, was found to be twenty-two feet and six inches in circumference, with a corresponding elevation of 130 feet.
