I came here with a very similar question. My neighbors (who are not the original owners) are convinced their gorgeous small tree is a tulip tree because that's what Grandma told them. I think it's one of the little girl magnolias, too - possibly 'Ann,' because I keep reading that one has the tendency to rebloom. Below are some pictures taken June 17th of last year. This one does not have buds now in winter, but it did seem to have a few blooms most of the summer. (P.S. - I feel like such a creeper, stalking this tree and sneakily snapping shots of it from my window like a deranged plant perv! It is tree-lust for sure!) I live in St. Louis, by the way. Zone 6. Any help would be so appreciated!

Tree names are tricky things.

Liriodendron tulipifera Is what my 60 year old neighbor thinks a tulip tree is.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=a878

Its big, has good looking yellow summer flowers.

in English you are apparently not incorrect to call whatever you want a tulip tree. I don't really memorize the Latin spellings of most but its handy to use it. The naming system is organized by a central body at least.

"tulip tree" is a common name.......therefore, it is nothing official and can be applied to anything one cares to :-) It is most often applied to Lirodendron tulipifera but many also call magnolias 'tulip trees'. Magnolia liliiflora is commonly referred to as 'tulip magnolia' due to the shape of the flowers but common usage has expanded that appellation.

The tree in the last photo IS a magnolia but difficult to determine exactly what kind. As to the OP's question, a magnolia putting out flowers in the middle of winter in a zone 6 climate regardless of temperatures would be highly unusual. Even in very mild winter climates, this is uncommon. And without any photo, it's impossible to know what sort of tree they may be referring to.

Just an aside, I responded to the second post earlier......but then the second post disappeared!! So I deleted my previous comment (essentially what I wrote above) as there was no context for it. Weird!!

Thank you both for your prompt comments! Great site, Toronado! ;) I'm so sorry you had to post twice, Gardengal. That was my fault. I was once fairly regular when the site was Garden Web, so I didn't realize till I posted my comment that my real name was showing up rather than my old Garden Web handle. Especially since I'd just joked about stalking plants.... Let me just state for the record I only stalk plants! People are far less interesting. Anyway, can anyone here tell me if 'Ann' and 'Genie' are the only fairly reblooming saucer-type magnolias? Somebody told me 'Susan' also reblooms. I so desperately want one of these trees in my own yard.

Any of the 'Little Girl' hybrids that have M. liliiflora in their parentage can produce a later summer rebloom. Operative word is can.....not necessarily will :-)

It seems summer bloom is a feature imparted by M. liliiflora parentage with the result that because this species has been used over and over in hybridizing there are dozens of named selections that may demonstrate this behavior. However specimen asked about appears to have M. stellata characters in its foliage and is therefore pretty likely to be one of the Kosar and De Vos hybrids from the USNA.

The U.S. National Arboretum presents eight hybrid magnolia cultivars affectionately known as ''The Girls.''

http://usna.usda.gov/Newintro/magnoli1.html

'Genie' is much more recently on the US market and produces a very dark flower, with a more rounded outline. The biggest one I have seen in the Seattle area is maybe 1/4 the size of the bush shown here, if that.

Was thinking of 'Genie' because I was hoping to sneak more than one tree into my small yard. ;) All of your responses have been very, very helpful to me...and I hope to the original poster as well. Thank you all so much!