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