TREES HAVING SIMPLE LEAVES 



103 



the mass of tuHp-sliaped flowers it bears in the spring. 

 They are large and brilliant, yellowish-green in color, 

 with dashes of red, and develop a narrow, light-brown 

 cone, whicli remains on the tree all winter. The 

 tree thrives best south of the Ohio valley, where it 

 is frequently found from five to seven feet in diame- 

 ter. The Indians formerly made their dugout canoes 

 from its trunk, and in some 

 sections it is still called ccmoe 

 iDoocl. 



55. Basswood, or Linden. A 

 very valuable group of trees 

 for botli shade and timber 

 are the basswoods, or lindens. 

 There are several varieties, 

 the European linden thriving 

 here as readily as our native 

 varieties. These trees may 

 always be distinguished by fig. ii3. TuUp, or whitewood 

 the leaves, which are heartshaped and lopsided, i.e. one 

 side from the middle line being always larger than the 

 other, as if two leaves of different sizes had been joined 

 along the center. 



This is a very common feature among certain classes 

 of trees, such as the elms. Another remarkable feature 

 is the seed, or bract, shown in the sketch (Fig. 115). 



