LIN. BASSWOOD. 



4a 



light red in color; the thick sapwood lighter. It is occasionally 

 used for cabinetmaking ; and the bark has been locally employed 

 in tanning. 



Tilia americana, Linnaeus. 



(baSSWOOD. LIN. LINDEN.) 



A tall tree, with slender, often pendulous branches, and thick^ 

 furrowed, light brown bark covered with small, thin scales. It 

 reaches a height of 130 and a diameter of 4 feet. 



It occurs in rich soil from northern New Brunswick to the south- 

 ern shore of Lake Winnipeg, and southward through the Atlantic 

 states to Virginia, along the Appalachian mountains to Alabama 

 and Georgia, and to eastern Texas. It reaches its best develop- 



ment along the northern tributaries of the lower Ohio river. One 

 of the most common trees of the northern forest, it formerly occu- 

 pied exclusively large tracts of the richest land. 



In North Carolina, where it attains a height of .50 to 80 and a 

 diameter of 1 to 4 feet, it is found more or less widely distributed 

 in the mountains and in the upper part of the Piedmont plateau 

 along the slopes of mountain spurs arid higher hills, while in 

 the lower Piedmont and coastal plain regions it is found sparsely 

 distributed as a smaller tree. (Fig. r>.) 



Basswood bears seed very abundantly every 2 or 3 years. The 

 young growth is eagerly devoured by cattle. Specimens over 2 



