About

Tilia americana is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae. It is native to eastern North America, from southeast Manitoba east to New Brunswick, southwest to northeast Oklahoma, southeast to South Carolina, and west along the Niobrara River to Cherry County, Nebraska. It is the sole representative of its genus in the Western Hemisphere, assuming T. caroliniana is treated as a subspecies or local ecotype of T. americana. Common names include American basswood and American linden.

How to grow it

T. americana mostly spreads by self-coppicing rather than seeds. Juvenile basswoods coppice readily, and even old trees may sprout from the stump if cut. T. americana seeds have a low viability rate of approximately 30%, and seeds develop an unusually hard seed coating after reaching maturity. This seed coating can delay germination for up to two years. It is possible to gather seeds in early autumn to sow before they dry out and form the harder coating.

The American basswood is recommended as an ornamental tree when the mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired; no native tree surpasses it in this respect. It is often planted on the windward side of an orchard as a protection to young and delicate trees. It is cultivated at least as far north as Juneau, Alaska.

Where it grows

American basswood is dominant in the sugar maple–basswood forest association, which is most common in western Wisconsin and central Minnesota, but occurs as far east as New England and southern Quebec in places that have mesic soil with relatively high pH. It also has minor occurrence in many other forest cover types.

Other Tilia plants

Amur Linden · Ching's Lime · Small-leaved Lime · Crimean Lime · Japanese lime · Kyushu Lime · Manchurian Lime · Mongolian Lime · Oliver's Lime · Large-leaved Lime · Silver Lime · Lime