Ms. Professor Erika Schmidt received the tulip tree in the Senk-garden, the garden monument at the Barkhausen building, as a gift from the staff of the Institute of Landscape Architecture at TU Dresden for her 80th birthday.

The Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a member of the magnolia family and is native to the forests of Asia and North America. The deciduous tree can reach up to 30 meters in height and forms a columnar crown. The leaves turn yellow to orange in the fall. Its large, cup-shaped yellow flowers resemble tulips and emit a pleasantly sweet fragrance. The nectar attracts honey bees and bumblebees. It contains antimicrobial substances. The winged seeds, or samaras, are mainly dispersed by the wind. The nuts are also used as food by jays and squirrels.

Since the Tulip tree is most impressive when planted alone, it is almost exclusively planted as a solitary tree. As fossils show, the Tulip tree was also widespread in present-day Europe during the Cretaceous period.