Tilia americana, 
THE AMERICAN LIME-TREE. 
Synonymes. 
Tilia americana, 
' Linn-eus, Species Plantarum. 
Willdenow, Berlinische Baumzucht. 
Michaux, North American Sylva. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torrey and Gray, Flora of North America. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Don, Miller's Dictionary. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Spain. 
Lenni Lenape Indians. 
Canada. 
Kentucky. 
Other parts of the United States. 
Tilia glabra, 
Tilleul de l'Amerique, Tilleul du Canada, 
Amerikanischer Lindenbaum, 
Tiglio americano, 
Tilo americano, 
Lenikby, 
White-wood, Bass-wood, 
Lin, Linden, 
Lime-tree, Black Lime-tree, Smooth-leav- 
ed Lime-tree, Bass-wood, 
Derivations The name Bass-wood, is probably a corruption from bast, which is applied to the European lime-tree by the 
rustics of Lincolnshire, because ropes were made from its bark. The Indian name is derived from lenni, original, and wikby ; 
the last word by itself, meaning the tree, the bark of which peels freely all the year round. It is called Black Lime from the 
dark colour of the bark. 
Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 131; Selby, British Forest Trees, p. 11; Loudon, Arboretum Britanni- 
cum, v., pi. 22; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Leaves obliquely cordate, or truncate at the base, somewhat coriaceous, glabrous, 
abruptly acuminate ; petals obtuse or truncate, crenate at the apex. Torrey and Gray, Flora. 
Description. 
HE Tilia americana, 
like the European 
linden, is regarded as 
one of the finest of 
forest trees, and when cultivated, proves highly 
ornamental. In our native woods, it often 
rises more than eighty feet in height, and fre- 
quently upwards of four feet in diameter ; and 
there is little doubt but, if cultivated, and judi-i 
ciously treated, it would reach a size little 
inferior, if not equal, to the European species. 
Its body is straight, uniform, and surmounted 
with an ample and tufted summit. In winter, 
it is readily recognized by the robust appear- 
ance of the trunk and branches, and by the 
dark-brown colour of the bark on the shoots. 
The leaves are from three to four inches wide, 
obliquely heart-shaped at the base, abruptly and acutely pointed at the sum- 
mit, finely and sharply toothed, glabrous above, of a deep-green, and paler 
beneath, with foot-stalks about two inches long. The flowers, which appear in 
June, are about half of an inch in diameter, borne by peduncles from four to six- 
inches long, and are garnished with a long, narrow floral leaf. The cymes are 
compounded, having from twelve to eighteen flowers, pendulous, and subdivided 
