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Liriodendron chinense
The Chinese tulip poplar Liriodendron chinense (Magnoliaceae) is similar to, but smaller than, the more familiar eastern North American Liriodendron tulipifera.
Liriodendron chinense is native to central China and Indochina and although it has been separated from Liriodendron tulipifera for between 10 and 16 million years, the species are still interfertile. Its leaves are unmistakable, with two broad basal lobes and a truncated apex, and these features are exaggerated in juvenile, vigorous growth. Mature plants flower in summer with tulip-shaped green petaloid tepals with yellow veins. The name derives from the Greek lirion = lily and dendron = tree.
