Basswood Tree

Description

Botanical Name:    Tilia americana

Common Name:  Basswood, American Linden, Bee Tree, Florida Linden, Carolina Linden, Carolina Basswood, Florida Basswood, Small-Leaved Basswood, Downy Basswood, Small-Leaved Linden, Downy Linden

Description:    Basswood is a very cool Florida native, medium to large, deciduous tree which typically grows to 50 – 80 feet tall x 30 – 60 feet wide with an ovate-rounded crown. It is a useful large shade tree in the Malvaceae (mallow) family that grows naturally from north Florida south to about Polk County. Very showy, fragrant, pale yellow flowers bloom in late spring/early summer in 5-10 flowered cymes. Small nutlets follow the flowers in late summer. Fall leaf color is a pale yellow-green. Fast growing. Life expectancy is around 200 years.

It is an amazing wildlife tree in that it attracts lightning bugs and its seeds are eaten by a variety of small mammals and birds. The flowers are fragrant and attractive to butterflies and lots of other pollinators because of its nectar. It has special value to native bees and honey bees. When a tree is in full bloom, bees often visit in such abundant numbers that humming can be heard many feet from the tree. Good for your Integrated Pest Management program because it attracts the good bugs that prey on the bad bugs. Larval host for Red Spotted Purple, Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, and Mourning Cloak butterflies..

Native habitat is in mesic forests. Grows in clay, loam, or sandy soils in acidic to circum-neutral pH. Very versatile in where it grows: sun, part sun, or part shade is fine for it. Would grow great in your rain garden. Is fine in a moist, well-drained soil. It has some drought tolerance once it is established, but would need supplemental water during very hot and dry summers. Fast grower.

Not salt tolerant of inundation by salty or brackish water. Low/no tolerance of salty wind or direct salt spray.

This plant in 3-gallon containers is 2 – 4 feet tall.

This plant in 7-gallon containers is 4 – 6 feet tall.

Plant Lore:  Honey made from the nectar of these flowers is a prized gourmet item. Flowers have also been used to make tea. Syrup can be made from the sweet tree sap. The leaves can be used in salads.

Genus name comes from the Latin name for the linden or lime tree, known in southern Sweden as linn and the origin of the name Linnaeus. Specific epithet is in obvious reference of the native territory of this species.

The common name of basswood is derived from bastwood, in reference to the tough inner bark (bast) which has been used to make rope and mats.

Florida Hardiness Zones 8 – 9