Yellow Poplar

Light, white, and easily worked, Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) was the original species used in Tennessee for flooring in homes from cabins to plantation houses in the 1800s. The Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson near Nashville, is notable for wide and long planks of Poplar that have served in place since the 1804. It is often used unfinished when matching floors of that era in historic homes. While it is quite light when first in place it turns relatively quickly to a light brown in ambient sunlight. The Yellow in its name refers to the flower the tree exhibits in spring, not to the color of the wood. Poplar will show some use of service over time in slight dents and heel mark, but as its long history shows, it does not wear out.

NOFMA Certified Select Yellow Poplar Flooring – 3/4″ Thickness – 1′-7′ Random Lengths

This grade will be primarily light in color, though it will contain heartwood that varies from light brown to light green to dark brown or even purple. Knots, birdpeck, wormholes, and the like are excluded but small burl that is characteristic of Poplar is admitted.

2 1/4″ – $4.19/SF

3″ – $4.39/SF

4″ – $4.69/SF

5″ – $4.99/SF

6″ – $5.49/SF

7″ – $5.79/SF

8″ – $6.29/SF

NOFMA Certified Character Yellow Poplar Flooring – 3/4″ Thickness – 1′-7′ Lengths

Yellow Poplar makes an excellent rustic floor with its abundant sound knots and occasional birdpeck in a character grade. While still an overall light-colored floor, this grade will have more heartwood and color variation and will include streaks of different colors as well as wormholes, bark pockets, and other sound character marks.

2 1/4″ – $3.89/SF

3″ – $4.19/SF

4″ – $4.39/SF

5″ – $4.69/SF

6″ – $4.99/SF

7″ – $5.29/SF

8″ – $5.59/SF