YELLOW POPLAR. WHITEWOOD. TULIP TREE. Poplar, inappropriate, inasmuch as the tree does not belong to poplar family. White, refers inappropriately to the color of the wood, which is greenish yellow. _Liriodendron tulipifera_ Linnaeus. _Liriodendron_, means lily-tree; _tulipifera_ means tulip-bearing. [Illustration: Habitat.] HABITAT: (See map); best in lower Ohio valley and southern Appalachian mountains. [Illustration: Leaf.] CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 70'-90'; even 200'; diameter, 6'-8', even 12'; tall, magnificent trunk, unsurpassed in grandeur by any eastern American tree; bark, brown, aromatic, evenly furrowed so as to make clean, neat-looking trunk; leaves, 4 lobed, apex, peculiarly truncated, clean cut; flowers, tulip-like; fruit, cone, consisting of many scales. APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light greenish or yellow brown, sap-wood, creamy white; diffuse-porous; rings, close but distinct; grain, straight; rays, numerous and plain. PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Light (54th in this list); 26 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.4230; medium strong (51st in this list); elastic (39th in this list); soft (49th in this list); shrinkage, 5 per cent.; warps little; durable; easy to work; brittle and does not split readily, nails very well. COMMON USES: Construction work, furniture, interiors, boats, carriage bodies, wooden pumps. REMARKS: Being substituted largely for white pine. [Illustration: Radial Section, life size.] [Illustration: Cross-section, magnified 37-1/2 diameters.] [Illustration: Tangential Section, life size.] 52 SWEET GUM. Gum, refers to exudations. _Liquidambar styraciflua_ Linnaeus. _Liquidambar_, means liquid gum; _styraciflua_, means fluid resin (storax). [Illustration: Habitat.] HABITAT: (See map); best in the lower Mississippi valley. [Illustration: Leaf.] CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TREE: Height, 80'-140'; diameter, 3'-5'; trunk, tall, straight; bark, light brown tinged with red, deeply fissured; branchlets often having corky wings; leaves, star-shaped, five pointed; conspicuously purple and crimson in autumn; fruit, multi-capsular, spherical, persistent heads. APPEARANCE OF WOOD: Color, light red brown, sap-wood almost white; diffuse-porous; rings, fine and difficult to distinguish; grain, straight, close, polishes well; rays, numerous, very obscure. PHYSICAL QUALITIES: Weight, medium (34th in this list); 37 lbs. per cu. ft.; sp. gr., 0.5909; medium strong (52d in this list); elasticity medium (44th in this list); medium hard (36th in this list); shrinkage, 6 per cent.; warps and twists badly in seasoning; not durable when exposed; easy to work; crumbles in splitting; nails badly. COMMON USES: Building construction, cabinet-work, veneering, street pavement, barrel staves and heads. REMARKS: Largely used in veneers, because when solid it warps and twists badly. Exudations used in medicine to some extent. [Illustration: Radial Section, life size.]