Abstract: A provenance test at age eight including five provenances of L. tulipifera and fifteen provenances of L. chinense was made to evaluate systematically plant performance in Southeast China from ecological adaptability, stem forking, growth rate, stem form and wood density. The results indicated that, in spite of less stem forking proportion, tulip tree is inferior to native L. chinense .The former has low growth rate, poor stem form and high mortality. Good site would be selected as plantation site to warrant successful introduction of tulip tree. It is very important to cultivate sound seedlings with rich root and tend young stand in time. The author suggests that introduction of tulip tree mainly aim to richen breeding resources for interspecific crossing, not plantation species. Among five tulip tree provenances tested, the interior Missouri performed best, which clould be selected as parent population for interspecific crossing.