WHITE BASSWOOD; BEE TREE; LINDEN (Tilia heter. 

 ophytta, Vent.). 50 to 60 feet. Lusty, handsome, narrowly 

 pyramidal tree, with green or red twigs, with pale, large len- 

 ticels, and tough inner bark, used for ropes. Bark thin, 

 furrowed, the ridges scaly. Wood pale reddish brown, 

 soft, close-grained. Leaves alternate, unsymmetrical at base, 

 heart-shaped or truncate, narrowly tapering to sharp apex, 

 saw-toothed, 4 to 7 inches long, 4 to 5 inches wide, bright 

 green, silvery white, downy beneath, on stems 2 to 3 inches 

 long. Flowers in June, fragrant, nectar-laden, creamy yellow, 

 in pendent cluster, with narrow, leaf-like green bract attached 

 to peduncle near base. Fruit nut-like, dry, 1- to 2-seeded, 

 size of a pea, grayish, pubescent, in cluster winged with dry 

 bract, narrow, leaf-like, 2 to 3 inches long. Dist. : Slopes and 

 stream banks, southern New York to Alabama, along west 

 slopes of Appalachian Mountains; west along the valley of the 

 Ohio River to its mouth. 



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