The Lindens ' 



looks down upon a tree covered with shingled leaves. It is 

 from underneath that the full beauty of these trees must now be 

 seen. 



In midsummer the linden grows coarse. The great leaves 

 are soft and attract hordes of insect enemies. Plant lice cover 

 them with patches of honey dew, and the sticky surfaces catch 

 dust and smoke. Riddled with holes and torn by the wind, they 

 fall in desultory fashion. The faded yellow does not please as 

 does the gold of beech and hickory leaves. 



Before they lose their spring freshness, note the linden leaf, 

 so you will always recognise it. The heart-shaped blade is unsym- 

 metrical — one half is bigger than the other. The bases do not 

 match, if you fold a leaf on its midrib. Then look at the veining. 

 The main side ribs have large branches only on the lower sides. 

 Those on the other side are simple and small. This is noticeable 

 on no other tree as it is in this one. This peculiarity is seen in the 

 basal half of the leaf, where the side veins are of good size. All 

 lindens show this characteristic. It is one of the marked family 

 traits. 



In the virgin forests of the Ohio Valley basswoods vastly 

 outnumbered all other trees. The reasons are easy to discover. 

 Vigorous seeds, winged for flight, are borne in profusion by these 

 trees. Their seedlings are content to grow in the shade. Suckers 

 grow up from the roots of a tree that falls, and every twig the 

 wind tears off is likely to strike root, and soon to become a tree. 

 Only man can interfere with the triumph of such a species in the 

 unceasing battle in the forest. He has distributed Nature's 

 equilibrium. The giant lindens, hundreds of years old, fell under 

 the pioneer's axe, and it will take centuries for the second-growth 

 trees to reach their full stature. Let us hope some of them may 

 be permitted to live their lives undisturbed, just to shov^' to 

 coming generations what the linden trees of the Ohio Valley were 

 in the old days. 



The White Basswood, or Bee Tree of the South (Tilia 

 heterophylla, Vent.), is an exceptionally handsome tree, for its 

 bright leaves are pale beneath, often lined with fine, silvery 

 down. As they flutter in the breeze they make a dazzling play 

 of white and pale green against a background usually sombre 

 with hemlocks and mountain laurel. 



The white basswood is a lusty forest tree with a preference 

 396 



