Family: Malvaceae
American basswood, American linden, basswood
Etymology: Tilia: classical Latin name
Plants: perennial tree to 130' tall
Leaves: oval to round, heart-shaped to flat unequal base, edges sharply toothed
Flowers: Inflorescence a stalked cluster of fragrant, yellowish flowers
Fruits: Nutlike, hairy, roundish
Habitat: rich woods
Conservation Status: Native
Plants: perennial tree to 130' tall
Leaves: oval to round, heart-shaped to flat unequal base, edges sharply toothed
Flowers: Inflorescence a stalked cluster of fragrant, yellowish flowers
Fruits: Nutlike, hairy, roundish
Habitat: rich woods
Conservation Status: Native
One of our most common native trees of usually mesic forests where it is a co-dominant with red oak-sugar maple, oak-hickory, pine-aspen, occasionally with mixed conifers, and in lowlands with silver maple-elm-swamp white oak or black ash-red maple-balsam poplar. It can also be found on lakeshores, sandy slopes, sandstone bluffs, talus slopes, and limestone cliffs; also persists in grazed woods and old pastures. Found throughout the state except in the driest sandy soils of the Central Sands.
Floristic Rating: Coefficient of Conservatism = 5, Wetland Indicator = FACU USDA Plants Database: Federal Distribution and detailed information including photos University of Wisconsin - Green Bay: Trees: Photos, descriptions, information Dan Tenaglia's The Missouri Flora: Fabulous photographs; detailed descriptions; color and leave arrangement key. Virginia Tech Dept. of Forestry, College of Natural Resources: detailed description and photographs Southwest School of Botanical Medicine: Britton & Brown Illustrated Flora - 2nd Edition (1913) "An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada" Landscape Plants of the Upper Midwest; UW-Extension: Interactive guide providing information on cultivation including: soil, zone, growth rate, landscape uses, pruning, light requirements; with photos and Latin name pronounciation