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    • American Chestnut
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    • American Elm 1
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    • American Sycamore 1
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    • Black Cherry 1
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    • Black Walnut 1
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    • Cucumber-tree 1
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    • Hop-hornbeam 1
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    • Scarlet Oak 1
    • Scarlet Oak 2
    • Shagbark Hickory 1
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    • Striped Maple 1
    • Striped Maple 2
    • American Basswood 1
    • American Basswood 2
    • American Basswood 3
    • American Beech 1
    • American Beech 2
    • American Beech 3
    • Bitternut Hickory 1
    • Bitternut Hickory 2
    • Bitternut Hickory 3
    • Black Gum 1
    • Black Gum 2
    • Black Gum 3
    • Eastern White Pine 1
    • Eastern White Pine 2
    • Eastern White Pine 3
    • Northern Red Oak 1
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    • Northern Red Oak 3
    • Red Maple 1
    • Red Maple 2
    • Red Maple 3
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    • Sugar Maple 3
    • Sweet Birch 1
    • Sweet Birch 2
    • Sweet Birch 3
    • Tulip Tree 1
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    • Tulip Tree 3
    • Black Oak 1
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    • Black Oak 3
    • Black Oak 4
    • Chestnut Oak 1
    • Chestnut Oak 2
    • Chestnut Oak 3
    • Chestnut Oak 4
    • Mockernut Hickory 1
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    • Red Hickory 1
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    • White Oak 1
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    • Mockernut Hickory

American Basswood

Scientific Name: Tilia americana
— pronounced TIL-ee-uh a-mer-ih-KAY-nah
— Tilia, Latin for linden tree. 
Mallow Family (Malvaceae): over 4,000 species, including hollyhock, hibiscus, cotton, okra, cacao tree
Other Common Names:  American Linden 
all photos by Peter Dziuk at minnesotawildflowers.info
​Young American Basswoods have smooth grey-green bark; adult trees, gray-brown with long, shallow furrows.
The leaves are arranged alternately.  They are heart-shaped, with an unequal base and serrated margins.
The flowers are fragrant and creamy yellow, in clusters suspended from a long leafy "wing," blooming in late spring.
The fruit is a round nut-like berry, 1/4 to 1/3 inch in diameter, usually containing just one seed.  At maturity it is covered with grayish-brown wooly hairs.
flowers and developing fruit
Photos and more ID help:  VA Tech dendrology sheet
Interesting Facts:
  • American Basswood grows up to 80 feet tall and two to three feet in diameter.   At about 15 years of age, a Basswood tree starts producing its seeds, which are a good food source for small mammals and birds.
  • Typically, Basswoods live about 100 years, but some live 140 to 200 years.
  • According to Lee E. Frelich, Basswoods are susceptible to invasion by fungi, which hollow out the trunk until the it buckles and collapses; this is the common cause of death for the "above-ground" tree. The stump then produces sprouts that grow quickly to adulthood, and the cycle may repeat; so it’s possible that a genetically-defined "individual" Basswood may live for centuries. 
  • Meantime the decaying wood in the standing tree welcomes cavity-nesting animals, including wood duck, pileated woodpecker, and numerous smaller birds and small mammals.
  • Basswood flowers are pollinated by as many as 60 species of insects, including bees and flies in the daytime and moths at night.
The "bass" in Basswood comes from the word "bast," which refers to strong woody fibers used for cordage — in this species, the fibrous, tough inner bark.
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  • Home
  • About the Friends
  • Brushy Hills Info
  • Become a Friend
  • Tree ID Project
    • American Chestnut
    • Ash
    • Bigtooth Aspen
    • Black Haw
    • Black Locust
    • Black Maple
    • Box Elder
    • Common Persimmon
    • Common Hackberry
    • Downy Serviceberry
    • Eastern Hemlock
    • Eastern Redbud
    • Eastern Red Cedar
    • Flowering Dogwood
    • Pitch Pine
    • Post Oak
    • Red Mulberry
    • Shortleaf Pine
    • Shumard Oak
    • Slippery Elm
    • Sourwood
    • Southern Red Oak
    • Spicebush
    • Sweet Cherry
    • Table Mountain Pine
    • Virginia Pine
    • Witch Hazel
    • American Elm 1
    • American Elm 2
    • American Hornbeam 1
    • American Hornbeam 2
    • American Sycamore 1
    • American Sycamore 2
    • Black Cherry 1
    • Black Cherry 2
    • Black Walnut 1
    • Black Walnut 2
    • Chinquapin Oak 1
    • Chinquapin Oak 2
    • Cucumber-tree 1
    • Cucumber-tree 2
    • Hop-hornbeam 1
    • Hop-hornbeam 2
    • Pawpaw 1
    • Pawpaw 2
    • Pignut Hickory 1
    • Pignut Hickory 2
    • Sassafras 1
    • Sassafras 2
    • Scarlet Oak 1
    • Scarlet Oak 2
    • Shagbark Hickory 1
    • Shagbark Hickory 2
    • Striped Maple 1
    • Striped Maple 2
    • American Basswood 1
    • American Basswood 2
    • American Basswood 3
    • American Beech 1
    • American Beech 2
    • American Beech 3
    • Bitternut Hickory 1
    • Bitternut Hickory 2
    • Bitternut Hickory 3
    • Black Gum 1
    • Black Gum 2
    • Black Gum 3
    • Eastern White Pine 1
    • Eastern White Pine 2
    • Eastern White Pine 3
    • Northern Red Oak 1
    • Northern Red Oak 2
    • Northern Red Oak 3
    • Red Maple 1
    • Red Maple 2
    • Red Maple 3
    • Sugar Maple 1
    • Sugar Maple 2
    • Sugar Maple 3
    • Sweet Birch 1
    • Sweet Birch 2
    • Sweet Birch 3
    • Tulip Tree 1
    • Tulip Tree 2
    • Tulip Tree 3
    • Black Oak 1
    • Black Oak 2
    • Black Oak 3
    • Black Oak 4
    • Chestnut Oak 1
    • Chestnut Oak 2
    • Chestnut Oak 3
    • Chestnut Oak 4
    • Mockernut Hickory 1
    • Mockernut Hickory 2
    • Mockernut Hickory 3
    • Mockernut Hickory 4
    • Red Hickory 1
    • Red Hickory 2
    • Red Hickory 3
    • Red Hickory 4
    • White Oak 1
    • White Oak 2
    • White Oak 3
    • White Oak 4
    • Mockernut Hickory