Tilia americana Linnaeus var. heterophylla (Ventenat) Loudon

Mountain Basswood; White Basswood; Linden Tree

Tree

Perennial

Vascular

White Basswood is a large native deciduous tree in the Mallow family (Malvaceae). It occurs throughout Alabama. White Basswood grows in ravines, in rich hardwood forests, in prairie woods, and along streams and rivers. It is a large tree with a mature height of 100-120 feet. Bark on young trees is smooth and light gray. On older trees the bark is gray and furrowed and is rough to the touch. Leaves are alternate and two-ranked. The leaf blade is orbicular or cordate in outline with serrate margins. The teeth of the margins are glandular. The upper surface of the leaf is dark green and the lower surface is glaucous. The bases of the leaves are often not symmetrical. Flowers are produced in drooping cymes. Each cyme has 10-20 flowers. The lower half of the peduncle of the cyme adheres to an elongated floral bract. Individual flowers have 5 cream colored sepals and 5 cream colored petals. The flowers are fragrant. The fruit is a round woody nutlet. Leaves often turn bright yellow in the autumn before falling. White Basswood is a good ornamental tree for landscapes with enough room for it. Charles Sargent, in The Silva of North America, said of it: "Few North American trees surpass it in beauty of foliage; and the contrast made by the snowy whiteness of the under surface of its ample leaves as they flutter on their slender stems, with the dark green of the Hemlocks and Laurels on the banks of rapid mountain streams produces one of the most beautiful effects which can be seen in the splendid forests which clothe the valleys of the southern Appalachian Mountains." Taxonomy of Basswoods in subject to much disagreement and debate. Some prefer to recognize several taxa at the species level, while others prefer to recognize them as varieties of the widespread American Basswood (Tilia americana Linnaeus). Southern Basswood (Tilia americana Linnaeus var. caroliniana (P. Miller) Castiglioni) is the other variety recognized as occurring in Alabama. It differs from White Basswood b

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Native

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