The Bassiooods. 241 



ous juice, and tough, stringy inner bark. Some of them yield a 

 succulent and edible fruit. The wood is soft, light, and iu some 

 species very elastic. The jute of commerce, a much esteemed 

 fibrous plant of annual growth, belongs to this natural order. 



962. Europe has several native species of the TUia, of which the 

 T. parvifolia is supposed to be the only one native of Britain, al- 

 though the T. Europea, T. grandifolia, and other species, have been 

 long under cultivation, and trees occur several hundred years old. 

 The tree is there chiefly propagated by layers, when raised for orna- 

 mental planting, and by this means various ragged-leaved, sUver- 

 leaved, and other curious varieties are continued. 



963. The linden is a great favorite for ornamental planting in 

 Holland and elsewhere iu Europe. The large leaved species grows 

 to the largest size, and reaches the greatest age. In Russia, the 

 inner bark of the basswood is made into textile fabrics, cordage, and 

 the like. The wood is sometimes ground into pulp for paper. 



9G4. Our common basswood, linden, or lime-tree of the Atlantic 

 States and Canada {Tilia Americana), is by far the most widely dis- 

 tributed of the four species found native in the United States. It 

 grows to a large size, but when old is very apt to become hollow. The 

 wood is very white, light, uniform in texture, not liable to crack or 

 split, is quite tough, and when sawn into thin boards, may be read- 

 ily bent into curves. It is much prized for cabinet wares and the 

 panels of carriages, and its lumber is much used for carving and for 

 finishing the inside work of houses, but it does not bear exposure to 

 the weather well, unless painted. When thoroughly seasoned and 

 painted, it makes an excellent material for outside work, as it re- 

 ceives and holds the paint well. 



965. The basswood, when standing alone, takes a finely rounded 

 form, and it is one of the best of trees for avenues. The blossoms 

 abound in honey, and in bee-keeping this tree afibrds a most excel- 

 lent source of supply; 



966. The White Linns (Tilia heterophylla and T. alba) and the 

 Southern Linn (T. pvhescens) are much loss widely distributed, being 

 southern and western, and the latter a tree of large size. 



967. The basswood loves a deep, rich, and humid soil, and under 

 favorable conditions it grows quite rapidly. It is generally consid- 

 ered an indication of a good soil. It seldom occurs in groves by it- 

 self, but is scattered among other deciduous trees, often in clumps, 



