Timber iQ October - November 2018 // Issue: 40 | Page 58

WOOD WISE
A flowering timber choice
Tall, dark and historically handsome, meet the showy
yellow poplar or tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).
By Stephanie Dyer
The champion tulip tree at Baynesfield Estate in KwaZulu-Natal.
I
n 1882 Joseph Baynes, a progressive farmer, planted a
tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) on the grounds of the
historic Baynesfield Estate, near Richmond in KwaZulu-
Natal. This tree, which is still there today, has grown into a
56 OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2018 //
giant of 34m in height, with a stem diameter of 2.04m at
breast height and a crown diameter of 26.02m.
When Baynes died in 1925, he left the farm in trust for
the benefit of all South Africans. The estate and its trees are