Campus Tree Tour
Tiliaceae – Linden Family / Malvaceae – Mallow Family
We list both families as we are in a transition period where the new designation (Malvaceae) is not fully adopted.
In 2024, this basswood measured 76 feet tall and had a diameter of 45 inches. Based on USDA Forest Service models, it will absorb approximately 1,688 lbs. of carbon over the next 20 years. Put simply, this tree alone will offset up to 6,831 miles worth of carbon dioxide.
See all species on our Campus Tree Tour.
Introduction
Basswood is widely distributed throughout the Eastern United States and is recognized for its fragrant flowers and heart-shaped leaves. Originally known as “bastwood,” indigenous people used the tree’s inner bark, or bast, as a fiber for crafting tools. Frequently planted in urban settings, basswood often develops multiple trunks at their base that help provide ample shade.
Physical Description
Life expectancy: 200 years
Height: 60-130 feet
Crown: 35-60 feet
Diameter: 36-48 inches
Bark: Thick and tough with furrows and sometimes small scales. Gray to brown to reddish brown in color.
Leaves: Deciduous, simple, and alternately arranged on the stem. Leaves vary in shape, but they are round (ovate) with a base that ranges from flat (truncate), to inequilateral, to heart-shaped (cordate). The leaf edges are also serrate (sharp-toothed) to cremate (blunt-toothed) with occasional hairs on the lower surface.
Twig: Twigs can be pubescent (hairy) with slightly raised leaf scars; twigs also contain a thick mucilaginous sap (that assists in water and food storage).
Flowers: Numerus flowers in a cyme, they are fragrant with 5 petals that are cream to yellow in color.
Fruit: Fruit is a dry hard ovoid nutlet about the size of a pea (5-7mm) with 1-2 seeds.
Key Identification Characteristics: Serrated leaf with a pubescent bottom, variable leaf bases, bark with furrows and cat scratch-like appearance, distinct flowers and fruit.
Past and Present Uses
Indigenous people used the bast from the basswood as a strong woody fiber for making rope or weaving tools like baskets and mats. They also used the soft wood for carving.
Today, these trees continue to be used for carving furniture and decorative items. The fragrant flowers of basswood can also produce nectar for honey. In the timber market, basswoods are valuable since they grow quickly, are disease resistant, and can be used for pulpwood.
Ecological Importance
Origin: Native to the United States
Native Range: Found from central Florida and northward to lower Canada and west to the great prairies as well as Mexico (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Native range of American Basswood. Photo credit: U.S. Geological Survey
Basswood is found throughout the Eastern U.S. on mesic sites and areas with coarser sands. It commonly grows in deciduous woodlands closer to wetter areas. They can be found alongside eastern conifers and hardwood species such as sugar maples, red maples, white ash, northern red oak, eastern hophornbeam, and American elms.
Basswood nectar is important to many pollinators, making it an ideal host plant for insects such as the red-spotted purple and mourning cloak butterflies. Fruits also provide forage for birds and squirrels.
More Information
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST634
References
Crow, T. R. (n.d.). American Basswood. Tilia americana. https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/tilame/all.html
Gilman, E. F., & Watson, D. G. (2015, April 21). American Basswood. Tilia Americana: American Linden. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST634
Godfrey, R. K., & Darst, M. (1988). Trees, shrubs, and woody vines of northern Florida and adjacent Georgia and Alabama. University of Georgia Press.
i-Tree. (2006). Tree tools - calculate the benefits of trees!. i-Tree. https://www.itreetools.org/
NC State Extension. (n.d.). Tilia americana. Tilia americana (American Basswood, American Linden, Basswood, Bee Tree, Carolina Basswood, Lime Tree, Linden, White Basswood, White Wood) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/tilia-americana/
Observations. iNaturalist. (n.d.). https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?captive=false&place_id=any&quality_grade=research&subview=map&taxon_id=54854&verifiable=any
Plant database. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - The University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=TIAM
Tilia americana. (n.d.). https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/tree/tilame/all.html#:~:text=The%20tree%20crown%20is%20usually,approximately%20200%20years%20%5B16%5D.