46 FAMILIAR TREES AND THEIR LEAVES. 



merous and slender, and its top nsuall y tapers to quite 

 a point. The American linden lias a rounder figure, 

 its small branches are heavier, its leaf is larger (four 

 to six inches long), and it frequently attains a height 

 of from 60 to 70 feet, with no branches below a 

 point some sixteen feet above the ground. But 

 these are superficial points of distinction ; the botani- 

 cal difference is found in the flowers. In the Eu- 

 ropean variety there are no petal-like scales attached 

 to the stamens. Our basswood is distinguished by a 

 cream-colored, sweet-scented flower which has these 

 scales. 



Basswood is frequently used in cabinet work, and 

 is a great favorite for the manufacture of wooden 

 ware, as it is easily worked, and its grain is firm, white, 

 and clear of knots. 



The linden is common throughout the North, and 

 it extends among the mountains as far south as Ala- 

 bama. It is also found in Indian Territory and 

 eastern Texas. It flowers in late spring, and in Oc- 

 tober its tiny fruit, like elongated brown peas, hangs 

 suspended from a fine stem, half of which appears to 

 be merged in a leaflike brown wing called a bract. 



enormous branches. In 1664 this tree had a trunk over thirty- 

 seven feet in circumference, and was computed to be from eight 

 hundred to one thousand years old. — Scientific Papers, ii, 39, 

 Asa Gray. 



