Err, Burgess DID list the scientific name. I have a big mea culpa here. Blame it on my inexperience. Hairmetal, it is indeed that tree, a 'pink magnolia.' I would NEVER have considered it to have been a magnolia. If you've ever been down here we have 'real' magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) EVERYWHERE. It's Mississippi's state tree and is on their vehicle license plates, but it's just as common here (actually have no idea how common it is in Miss, presumably the same, at least the southern half of the state). So when this self-identified amateur thinks of magnolia, that and only that comes to mind. Everyone I know calls the pink magnolia a tulip tree. Granted, I am the one and only person interested in trees and gardening in my circle of acquaintances. I have even seen the proper tulip tree, and have never had cause to call it anything at all. It is DEFINITELY a tree I have no interest in planting. I have heard, though, that some butterflie's caterpillars use it as a host (food) plant. Do y'all know which butterflies, offhand? Thanks again! Jeremy

My two cents on a 6 year old thread... Northern seed source for Tulip Tree is critical if you want a healthy vigorous tree in zone 5 or colder. After two conversations I had with landscape professionals (urban forester & retail nursery owner/landscaper) in southern Ontario, they shared that a few wholesalers are bringing up B&B Tulip Trees from growers in North Carolina (cheaper than locally grown). They discovered this after investigating why their Tulip Trees planted in the last ~5-7 years were not as robust (low vigor, winterkill, sudden death) relative to the native wild Tulip Trees. Performance of the southern trees was not so bad that the wholesalers would stop importing but poor enough that the perfectly hardy Tulip Tree is getting a reputation as 'borderline'.

I have Gkinkgo Baloba tree seeds and Shenandoah Pawpaw seeds. What do you have to trade

Example in last photo has the mature habit, one asked about looks like it is still in the youthful, conical, height building phase. (Which it would be at only 20' tall, unless on a site that had very stunting conditions). Where a dominant central leader that persists long enough will be needed for it to produce an elevated crown with a single trunk of some length beneath it. Or running up some distance through the center of a low branching crown. The classic manual The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by George E. Brown (Second Edition 2004, Tony Kirkham. Timber Press, Portland) says (among other things) about Liriodendron The best form to grow this is with a strong central leader and Specimens that are left to branch low without a central leader, reach a stage when each limb carries considerable weight and weakness may develop in a crotch with disastrous results