This widespread in states east of the Mississippi Rv. Although probably native to all counties of Ky., it is much less frequent on more base-rich soils. It was virtually absent in the original woods on uplands of the central Bluegrass except close to the Kentucky Riiver (Barton 1919; Campbell 1989). However, a small stand occurs on a terrace of South Elkhorn Creek in w. FAYE; also a few large upland trees that may be native are known in BOUR and HARR (Griffith Woods). Large upland trees in FAYE are at Ashland (154 cm dbh), Lexington Cemetery (150 cm cm dbh), and on Blue Ribbon Lane (135 cm dbh), but these were probably planted during the 1800s based on partial tree rings and local history. The state champion is in MCRE: 178 cm dbh, 50 m tall, 25 m wide (KDF 2020). Although commonly planted in urban areas, the species rarely establishes here from seed, presumably due to excessively eutrophic or base-rich soils, combined with competition from other plants and perhaps herbivory. However, locally abundant germination has been observed on pine bark mulch (R. Stauffer, pers. comm.). Liriodendron is a common host for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus ssp. glaucus); but other potential hosts include Magnolia, Ptelea, Prunus and Fraxinus. Foliage and fresh twigs are also much browsed by deer (Atwood 1941), horses (M. Hutchison, pers. comm.) and other mammals, especially rabbits (Burns & Honkala 1990; C. Sither, pers. comm.).