Tulip Tree Flowers

These are blossoms from the tulip tree, an eastern US tree that is tall and straight. Its wood is soft. The Miami-Illinois Indians called it oonseentia. They used it to make dugout canoes, so early American white settlers called it "canoewood." It's also called the "fiddle tree," because its leaves are shaped somewhat like a violin. Its flowers, as you can see, are shaped like a tulip. Click to enlarge.