Value for planting: The tree has great value as a specimen on the lawn
but is undesirable as a street tree because it requires considerable
moisture and transplants with difficulty. It should be planted while
young and where it can obtain plenty of light. It grows rapidly.

Commercial value: The wood is commercially known as _whitewood_ and
_yellow poplar_. It is light, soft, not strong and easily worked. It
is used in construction, for interior finish of houses, woodenware
and shingles. It has a medicinal value.

Other characters: The _flower_, shown in Fig. 75, is greenish yellow in
color, appears in May and resembles a tulip; hence the name tulip
tree. The _fruit_ is a cone.

Other common names: _Whitewood_; _yellow poplar_; _poplar_ and _tulip
poplar_.


SWEET GUM (_Liquidambar styraciflua_)

[Illustration: FIG. 75.--Leaf and Flower of the Tulip Tree.]

Distinguishing characters: The _persistent, spiny_, long-stemmed round
*fruit*; _the corky growths on the_ *twigs*, the characteristic
_star-shaped_ *leaves* (Fig. 76) and the very shiny greenish brown
buds and the perfect symmetry of the tree are the chief characters
by which to identify the species.

Form and size: The sweet gum has a beautiful symmetrical shape, forming