Black Tulip

Harpullia pendula is a tree that typically grows to a height of up to 15 m (49 ft) with a dbh 60 cm (24 in), its new growth with soft, fawn-coloured hairs. Its leaves are paripinnate, 100–300 mm (3.9–11.8 in) long with 4 to 8 elliptic to egg-shaped, thin, leathery leaflets with the narrower end towards the base, mostly 55–105 mm (2.2–4.1 in) long and 20–40 mm (0.79–1.57 in) wide on a petiolule 3–6 mm (0.12–0.24 in) long. The flowers are borne in panicles in leaf axils up to 280 mm (11 in) long, each flower on a pedicel 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long. The sepals are oblong to more or less round, 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and covered with hairs. The petals are greenish yellow, 7–8 mm (0.28–0.31 in) long, and there are usually 8 stamens. The ovary is covered with woolly hairs and the style is 5–10 mm (0.20–0.39 in) long and twisted. The fruit is a yellow-orange to red capsule 13–25 mm (0.51–0.98 in) long, with a single seed in each locule.

Tulipwood grows in dry rainforest on basalt between Coen in Queensland and the Bellinger River in north-eastern New South Wales, at altitudes up to 850 m (2,790 ft).

Harpullia pendula is a popular ornamental tree. Seeds germinate easily from two weeks to two months.

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