Habitat

• a hybrid developed in the 19th century, parentage is undecided; it is believed to be T. cordata and T. clasystyia
• hardy to zone 3

Habit and Form

• a deciduous medium to large tree
• 40 to 60' tall
• 20' to 30' wide
• branches to the ground
• medium texture
• moderate growth rate

Summer Foliage

• deciduous, simple leaves
• alternate leaf arrangement
• broad ovate leaf shape
• cordate leaf base
• 2" to 4" long
• fine sharp serrations cover margins
• dark green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• yellow or yellow-green at best
• not showy

Flowers

• yellowish white flowers in cymes of 3 to 7 flowers
• 2" to 4" long
• blooms in July
• floral bract present linear, 2" to 3" long and green

Fruit

• small round nutlet 0.2' to 0.3" in diameter
• brown color and pointed
• pubescent
• slightly ornamental in late summer

Bark

• glabrous slender stems
• reddish upperside
• yellow underside
• older bark is gray-brown in color

Culture

• full sun to light shade
• easily transplanted
• prefers moist, deep, fertile, well-drained soils
• tolerant of difficult growing sites and soils
• urban tolerant
• pollution tolerant
• very pH adaptable
• tolerates hedging well
• suckers below graft

Landscape Uses

• shade tree
• lawn tree
• street tree
• urban locations
• planter boxes
• as a large hedge
• city malls and plantings
• for formal habit, regularity and symmetry

Liabilities

• attracts bees when in bloom
• Japanese beetles
• sooty mold

ID Features

• glabrous, 0.25" long, yellowish-red buds
• branches to ground
• cordate leaf shape

Propagation

• by cuttings
• by grafting

Cultivars/Varieties

'Laurelhurst' - This selection is notable for its symmetrical branching structure about a straight trunk. The plant grows densely, with a broad-pyramidal crown of lustrous, deep green foliage.