Tilia L. (Malvaceae)

A genus of about twenty-five to forty-five species of trees; temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia.

One species (three varieties) occurs in North Carolina: Tilia americana. It is considered native to the state.

1. Lower leaf surfaces puberulent with bulbous glands, acicular trichomes, and (rarely) sparsely scattered stellate trichomes; fruiting peduncles and pedicels glabrous or sometimes puberulent; [generally w. NC]...T. americana var. americana (Northern basswood)

Bark of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Bark of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Bark of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Bark of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Bark of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Twigs of Tilia americana var. americana (coming soon)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. americana (Copyright W. Cook)

Flowers of Tilia americana var. americana (coming soon)

Fruits of Tilia americana var. americana (coming soon)

N.C. distribution of Tilia americana var. americana

U.S. distribution of Tilia americana var. americana

Tilia americana var. americana (Northern basswood)
(Rare; rich coves, rocky slopes, metabasalt boulderfileds, rich north-facing river bluffs, calcareous CP ravines; Mt; Fl: Jun, Fr: Aug-Sep)

1. Lower leaf surfaces usually tomentose or becoming puberulent, with bulbous glands, acicular trichomes, and a predominance of stellate or fasciculate trichomes; fruiting peduncles and pedicels stellate-tomentulose (becoming puberulent in age); [collectively widespread in our area]...2.

2. Lower leaf surfaces grayish or brownish, loosely but densely tomentose with fasciculate and/or stipitate-stellate trichomes, either remaining tomentose or becoming puberulent, or puberulent from emergence and green beneath; lateral buds 3-5 mm long; pericarp 0.5- 0.6 mm thick; [generally southern, Coastal Plain and Piedmont of NC, SC, GA and southward and westward]...T. americana var. caroliniana (Southern basswood)

Bark of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Copyright W. Cook)

Twigs of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (coming soon)

Leaf of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaf of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Copyright W. Cook)

Flowers of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Copyright W. Cook)

Fruits of Tilia americana var. caroliniana (coming soon)

N.C. distribution of Tilia americana var. caroliniana)

U.S. distribution of Tilia americana var. caroliniana)

Tilia americana var. caroliniana (Southern basswood)
(Uncommon; mesic forests, in the outer CP usually associated with shell deposits, Indian shell middens, or underlying coquina limestone ["marl"]; Pd, CP; Fl: Jun-Jul, Fr: Jul-Aug)

2. Lower leaf surfaces pale or whitish, densely stellate tomentose with appressed, sessile-stellate trichomes obscuring the surface (rarely becoming puberulent with age but with some stellate trichomes persisting along major veins, the margin, and/or the apex; lateral buds 5-8 mm long; pericarp 0.8-1.0 mm thick; [widespread in our area]...T. americana var. heterophylla (Mountain basswood)

Bark of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Bark of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Terminal bud of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Leaf of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Leaves of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

Flowers of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Flowers of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Flowers of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Fruits of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Photo: S.J. Baskauf, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; Bioimages)

Fruits of Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Copyright W. Cook)

N.C. distribution of Tilia americana var. heterophylla

U.S. distribution of Tilia americana var. heterophylla

Tilia americana var. heterophylla (Mountain basswood)
(Common [rare in CP]; rich coves and mesic to dry slopes [the drier sites usually on limestone], often one of the most abundant trees in Southern Appalachian cove forests; Mt, Pd, CP; Fl: Jun, Fr: Jul-Aug)