Fifty Common Trees of New York 59 



48. BASSWOOD 



Linden, Whitewood 



{Tilia glabra (Ventenat) Linnaeus) 

 Basswood takes front rank as a valuable forest tree in New York 

 State on account of its rapidity of growth and the wide range of use for 

 its lumber. It does best in the deep, moist soils of the woodlot sections 



BASSWOOD 

 Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size ; twig, one- 

 half natural size 



but is found generally distributed except in the high Adirondacks and 

 Catskills. The wood is soft, even-grained, light, and fairly strong, and 

 is in demand for boxes, crates, veneer, cheap furniture, woodenware, and 

 paper pulp ; often used as a substitute for white pine. 



Bark — on young stems smooth, dark gray in color; on older trunks 

 firm but easily cut, becoming furrowed into rather narrow flat-topped 

 ridges ; on still older trunks furrows deeper, ridges more rounding and 

 broader, surface scaly. 



Twigs — rather slender, smooth, bright red or greenish in color or cov- 

 ered by a gray skin, zigzag, slightly mucilaginous when chewed ; fibers of 

 bark on twigs very tough, may be used as rope. 



Winter buds — terminal bud absent; lateral buds large, smooth, some- 

 times lopsided, bending away from the twigs, dark red or sometimes 

 green in color. 



Leaves — simple, alternate, heart-shaped, from 5 to 10 inches long, 

 sharp-pointed, coarsely serrate along margin. 



Fruit — a nut, round, woody, about the size of a pea, borne singly or in 

 clusters, with a common stalk, attached midway to a leafy bract, ripen- 

 ing in late fall but sometimes remaining on the tree into the winter. 

 Bract — acts as a sail to scatter the seed. 



