Tulip Tree Discovery

This time of year is difficult to tell what many of the trees around might be.  We know there are hickory trees as the nuts are everywhere on the ground.  Haven't seen much in the way of acorns but there may be some oak......time will tell.  We have two trees in front of porch that have dried berries but until we see some leaves it's hard to say what they might be.

One type of tree we discovered finger like pods/cups high up on the branches.  10 trees so far we've counted but may be more.  Surfing the internet I've been able to identify the type tree......a tulip tree.

On left page is an actual example of one of our trees.  The way the trunk branched is what caught my attention.  And on a few of the higher branches were the dried seed pods/cups.  My imagination can go wild viewing shapes like this. 

The right page is from what I've been able to learn about the tree and what to hopefully expect with leaf and flower.  I do wonder if we'll really be able to distinguish the flowers from the leaves considering they too are green and so high up into the trees.  And who knows, there are various varieties so maybe the flowers will be different.