Scientific Name: Tilia americana

 Identification

• Contains green leaves that are 5 to 6 inches long
• Leaves are unevenly heart-shaped
• Bark on young trees: very fibrous, smooth, gray-green,
• Bark on older trees: ridged, gray-brown
• Creamy yellow flowers during blooming season
• Overall tree size ranges from 60 to 80 feet 
• Can grow as a multi-stemmed tree or with a single-stemmed trunk

Status

• Native

Interesting Facts

• Used to make boxes, toys and drawing boards
• Inner bark is a source of fiber for ropes and fishnets
• Strongly vulnerable to ice damage
• Often used as a shade tree
• Early tribes carved ritual masks on the trees

References

American basswood. (2016). Retrieved April 3, 2017, from Virginia Tech: Invent the future website: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=88

American basswood. (2017). Retrieved April 3, 2017, from The Morton Arboretum website: http://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/american-basswood

Nessom, G. (2002, June 19). BASSWOOD: Tilia americana L. Retrieved April 3, 2017, from https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_tiam.pdf

TWC Staff. (2014, March 27). Plant database. Retrieved April 3, 2017, from Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TIAM

Image Credits

An American Basswood Tree: "Tilia americana L. - American basswood" from the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Herman, D.E., et al. 1996. North Dakota tree handbook. USDA NRCS ND State Soil Conservation Committee; NDSU Extension and Western Area Power Administration, Bismarck. 

American Basswood Leaves: "American basswood (Tilia americana)" by Paul Wray, Iowa State University, Bugwood.org, licensed under  CC BY-NC 3.0 License. Image cropped.

American Basswood Bark: "American Linden bark detail" by MONGO, licensed under the public domain. Image cropped.