• Common name: Poplar, Yellow Poplar, Tulip Poplar
• Scientific name: Liriodendron tulipifera
  
• Where does it grow: Eastern United States
  
• How tall does the tree grow: 130 to 160 feet tall
  
• Tree trunk diameter:   6 to 8 feet
  
• Color of lumber: Heartwood is light yellowish brown, sometimes with a green or gray hue.  Wide sapwood is pale yellow to white.
  
• Grain: Straight, uniform grain, medium texture
  
• Janka hardness: 540 (relatively soft)
  
• Cost per board foot: $2.40  (May 20, 2025)
  

 
Notes:  Often used to make toys.  While referred to as “poplar” here in the US, liriodendron tulipifera (or yellow poplar) isn’t really a poplar at all (it is a scientifically unrelated hardwood that has similar characteristics to true poplars).  The flowers of this tree resemble tulips, which is why one of its alternative common names is Tulip Poplar.  An unusual, though not exactly rare, occurrence is “rainbow poplar” (with a wide variety of colors like green, purple, black and red all in the same tree).  Rainbow poplar is not a separate variety of poplar but is simply yellow poplar that has picked up coloration from minerals in the soil in which the tree is growing.   

Yellow Poplar Tree

Poplar Lumber

Tulip Poplar Leaves and Flowers