'The Apollo of the Woods'

Walt Whitman called it that. We just call it beautiful!

Walking the Ring Road in Delaware Park, we spotted a tree bursting with yellow, bell-shaped flowers.

Out came the Seek app — and just like that, mystery solved.

It’s a tulip tree!

A native beauty with the mellifluous Latin name Liriodendron tulipifera — liriodendron meaning “lily tree” in Greek. Part of the magnolia family, it ranges across eastern North America, from Southern Ontario down to central Florida and Louisiana.

According to Wikipedia (Seek’s source), bees make honey from the tulip tree — though it’s strong and not ideal as table honey. Some bakers like it, though!

Edgar Allen Poe refers to the tulip tree in his story “The Gold-Bug.”

Walt Whitman called the tree “the Apollo of the woods.” Funny, we were just writing about Walt Whitman!

Cool, right? Nature puts on a show if you know where to look.

Thanks for strolling the Ring Road with me — and keep your eyes open. You never know when a tree might start quoting Walt Whitman.

Mary Kunz Goldman is known in Buffalo for having written the Buzz Column, a popular feature in The Buffalo News, as well as another hit column, “100 Things Every Western New Yorker Should Do At Least Once.” She is the author of two books, “Pennario” and “Sketches of Buffalo.” Enjoy her independent Substack publication at MaryKunzGoldman.Substack.com. New stories appear just about every day!

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