Fort Erie's Tulip Trees

NN1506B Earl Plato

It’s magnificent and it’s in DiCienzo’s Marcy Woods. in Fort Erie, Ontario. John Kieran, nature writer, has described this forest wonder and I quote from him. “There is a tall and stalwart tree that is not only magnificent in bulk but distinctive in almost every part.” It has a trunk like a Greek column, It has a lovely flower that late Fort Erie naturalist. Bert Miller , captured on film in 1956. Also it has an odd-shaped leaf and high up conical clusters of winged seeds that will stand out reddish-brown against the cold blue sky in late Autumn. In Winter buds will look like miniature thumbless mittens. That’s not all. Stop on the Lower Trail in Marcy Woods far down the trail and look at and up at Liriodendron tulipfera known as the Tulip Tree. The bark of this old tree is deeply fissured and a rich brown in colour. Looking up to the leafy canopy focus your binoculars on a leaf. They are in a class by themselves. We have no other tree leaf in North America with such square and broadly indented tips. Our Niagara Conservation Authority adopted this unique leaf years ago as its symbol. I have two good photos of the Tulip Tree flower - both of them have six green petals crossed by a bright orange band with yellow borders. It’s an attractive flower usually not seen too well because it grows so high up. Remember this is a Carolinian tree. There are not too many found in Ontario. Most are located in Southern Ontario in areas on the north shore of Lake Erie. Backus Woods near Long Point and Rondeau Provincial Park still have great stands. For some strange reason this tree is also called Yellow Poplar. Poplars are basically weed trees and their lumber virtually useless. Not the magnificent Tulip tree for its wood is prized in the lumber industry. The wood is light and quite strong. Protect our local Tulip trees from being cut for they are long-lived. Watch a Tulip Tree’s leaves in the Fall. They will begin to turn to gold in spots and dappled patches. The late great Fort Erie naturalist, Bert Miller, would probably have said, “Glory to God for dappled things.”
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In the early 1950’s that giant tulip tree of Rosehill was cut down. That tree was 16 ft. 51/2 inches in circumference. I know as a boy I helped measure it. The late Bert Miller tried to protect it. I recall how distraught he was when it fell to the lumbermen. Estimated by University of Western Ontario scientist at over 400 years old. What a shame for the citizens of our town who love trees. Be a protector of defenceless trees.