We moved into our present home almost forty years ago. While the property had lawns front and back, there was little evidence that the previous owners were interested in gardening or landscaping. There were, however, lovely trees, some of which were quite large. In the front, close to the public walkway, there was a spindly tree with very large leaves which I could not identify.
Is this tree native to NY?
It is an understory tree that is native to rich moist woods, ravines, slopes and along streams in the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania and West Virginia to North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky plus the Blue Ridge Mountains into South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. It is a small, often multi-trunked, tree that typically grows to 30′ tall, but may rise to as much as 45′ tall. Malodorus, bowl-shaped, creamy white flowers (to 6-10″ across) bloom in spring shortly after the leaves emerge. Each flower has 6-9 (sometimes 12) petal-like tepals. Flowers are followed by cone-like pink fruits (to 4″ long) that ripen in fall. Thin, smooth, gray bark.