Alternate name: American Linden

Family: Tiliaceae, Linden view all from this family

Description Large tree with long trunk and a dense crown of many small, often drooping branches and large leaves; frequently has two or more trunks, and sprouts in a circle from a stump.
Height: 60-100' (18-30 m).
Diameter: 2-3' (0.6-0.9 m).
Leaves: in 2 rows; 3-6" (7.5-15 cm) long and almost as wide. Broadly ovate or rounded; long-pointed at tip; notched at base; coarsely saw-toothed; palmately veined; long slender leafstalks. Shiny dark green above, light green and nearly hairless with tufts of hairs in vein angles beneath; turning pale yellow or brown in autumn.
Bark: dark gray; smooth, becoming furrowed into narrow scaly ridges.
Twigs: reddish or green, slender, slightly zigzag, hairless.
Flowers: 1/2-5/8" (12-15 mm) wide; with 5 yellowish-white petals; fragrant; in long-stalked clusters hanging from middle of leafy greenish bract; in early summer.
Fruit: 3/8" (10 mm) in diameter; nutlike, elliptical or rounded, gray, covered with fine hairs; hard; 1-2 seeds; maturing in late summer and autumn, often persisting into winter.

Habitat Moist soils of valleys and uplands; in hardwood forests.

Range SE. Manitoba east to SW. New Brunswick and Maine, south to W. North Carolina, and west to NE. Oklahoma; to 3200' (975 m).

Discussion American Basswood, the northernmost basswood species, is a handsome shade and street tree. When flowering, the trees are full of bees, hence the name "Bee-tree"; this species is favored by bees over others and produces a strongly flavored honey. The soft, light wood is especially useful for making food boxes, yardsticks, furniture, and pulpwood. Indians made ropes and woven mats from the tough fibrous inner bark.