Tilia americana
Common name: 
American Linden
American Basswood
Pronunciation: 
TIL-i-a a-mer-i-KA-na
Family: 
Malvaceae, formerly Tiliaceae
Genus: 
Tilia
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Deciduous tree, 60-80 ft (18-24 m), pyramidal when young, when mature lower branches droop down but tips ascend; rounded form.  Bark gray-brown, many long, narrow flat topped ridges.  Leaves alternate, simple, 12-15 cm long, thick, tip abruptly acuminate, base cordate or truncate, margin coarsely serrate with long pointed teeth, glossy to dull dark green above, lighter below, 3-5 veins arising at the base, tufts of hair in axils of lateral veins; petiole 2.5-7.5 cm long.  Flowers pale yellow, 11-13 mm across, appear after leaves fully expanded, 5-10(15) per cluster, floral bract is 7-10 cm long.  Globose fruit, 8-12 mm across, without ridges, covered with gray-brown pubescence.
  • Sun to part shade.  Best in deep, moist, fertile soil, but tolerates drier, heavier soils
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 3b      Native range covers much of eastern North America; from New Brunswick and Maine west to southern Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, and Manitoba; south to eastern North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma; east to northern Arkansas, Tennessee, western North Carolina, and New Jersey.
  • Tilia heterophylla [White Basswood] has leaves with densely whitish pubescence on the underside but otherwise very similar to Tilia americana and now it is included in T. americana.
  • Note: aid in indentifying Tilia americana.  This species is one of three, the others being T. japonica and T. mongolica, that form staminoides (petal-like stamen that do not produce pollen). "In the center [of the flower] are numerous stamens, up to 60, shorter than to about as long as the petals, in five groups around the central pistil. The innermost stamen of each group is typically modified into a petal-like staminode (sterile stamen), layered just in front of the petal. A single straight white style, longer than the petals, sits at the tip of the pale green ovary, the tip of the style with 5 tiny lobes".  (Minnesota Wildflowers https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/)
  • Several cultivars, including:
    • American Sentry® (‘McKSentry’) – straight, well-formed, narrow pyramidal canopy, narrower that the species, 60 ft tall and 25 ft wide (18 × 13 m)
    • 'Boulevard' - tall, narrow, and very straight-growing, ascending branches, very hardy (USDA Zone 3), well suited to street plantings
    • 'Continental Appeal'  -  tree, to 50 ft tall (~15 m), dense crown, ascending branches.  Leaves large, 9-15 cm long and 7-10 cm wide, dark green above, whitish pubescence below. Once considered a Tilia heterophylla.
    • Legend® (DTR 123’) – broadly pyramidal shape, fast growing, 40 ft tall and a spread of 30 ft (12 × 9 m), clean glossy green leaves, resists rust problems of the species
    • 'Redmond’ – probably of hybrid origin, some consider it a cross of T. americana × T. ×euchlora, shorter, denser and more compact than the species, 40 ft tall and 20 ft wide (12 × 6 m), long proven in years of urban use, reliable as a street tree, hardy to USDA Zone 3
  • Corvallis: southwest corner 4th St. and Tyler Ave.
  • Oregon State University campus: NE Kearney Hall, along Monroe Ave.  
Click image to enlarge
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    plant habit

  • young leaf with stipules

    young leaf with stipules

  • mature leaf

    mature leaf

  • leaf surface and margin

    leaf surface and margin

  • leaf size variation

    leaf size variation

  • leaves, comparison

    leaves, comparison

  • leaf and immature flower clusters

    leaf and immature flower clusters

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    flower clusters and leaves

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    flowers

  • leafy shoot and fruit

    leafy shoot and fruit

  • leaf and bract

    leaf and bract

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    fruit and leaf

  • plant habit and leaves, fall

    plant habit and leaves, fall

  • leaves, fall

    leaves, fall

  • plant habit, winter

    plant habit, winter

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    trunk, bark

  • winter twig, buds

    winter twig, buds