Genus: Tilia

Tilia americana
Tilia americana   L.  -  Basswood

Photo © by Steven Clemants
Taken at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, NY, 1999.

By Kerry Barringer

Not peer reviewed

Last Modified 03/19/2013

Back to Malvaceae

Nomenclature

Tilia L., Sp. Pl. 1: 514. 1753. Gen. Pl. 230. 1754. LECTOTYPE: Tilia europaea L., designated by Britton & Brown (1913).

Key to the species of Tilia

1. Leaves tomentose beneath (commonly cultivated)...Tilia tomentosa
1. Leaves glabrous beneath...2

2. Flowers with staminodes; fruits smooth to slightly verrucose...Tilia americana
2. Flowers without staminodes; fruits ribbed (commonly cultivated)...Tilia cordata

List of Tilia Species

References to Tilia

  • Anderson, G. J. 1976. The pollination biology of Tilia. Amer. J. Bot. 63(9): 1203-12.
  • Ashby, W. C. 1962. Root growth in American basswood. Ecology 43: 336-9.
  • Ashby, W. C. 1964. A note on basswood nomenclature. Castanea 29: 109-16.
  • Ashby, W. C. 1959. Limitation to growth of basswood from mineral nutrient deficiencies. Bot. Gaz. 121(1): 22-8. (S, N, K, P, Ca, Mg. See also Forset Sci. 7: 273-281. 1961.)
  • Ashby, W. C. 1962. Bud break and growth of basswood as influenced by daylength, chilling, and gibberellic acid. Bot. Gaz. 123: 162-70.
  • Ashby, W. C.; Cummins, J. N. 1968. Root growth and rooting of Basswood. Bot. Gaz. 129(4): 327-33.
  • Ashby, W. C.; Mika, E. S. 1959. Sulphur deficiency in Tilia americana. Bot. Gaz. 121(1): 28-31.
  • Ashe, W. W. 1926. Notes on Tilia. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 53: 27-33.
  • Balter, H.; Loeb, R. E. 1983. Arboreal relationships on limestone and gneiss in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 110: 370-9.
  • Barton, L. V. 1934. Dormancy in Tilia seeds. Contr. Boyce Thompson Inst. Pl. Res. 6: 69-89. (see also G. Grimsley, J. Elisha Mitchell Soc. 46: 72-73. 1930, and J.N. Spaeth, Science II. 76: 143-)
  • Berry, E. W. 1918. The history of linden and ash. Pl. World 21: 163-75.
  • Beskaravaynaya, M. A. 1961. Flower morphology in some species of the lime (Tilia L.). Bot. Zhurn. (Moscow & Lenengrad) 46: 1027-32. (In Russian)
  • Braun, E. L. 1960. The genus Tilia in Ohio. Ohio J. Science 60: 257-61. (Includes postglacial history of the genus in N. America)
  • Brizicky, George K. 1965. The genera of Tiliaceae and Elaeocarpaceae in the southeastern United States. J. Arnold Arbor. 46: 286-307.
  • Burret, M. 1926. Beitroge zur Kenntnis der Tiliaceen. Notizbl. Bot. Gart. Berlin 9: 592-880.
  • Corbet, S. A. 1979. Humidity, nectar and insect visits to flowers, with special reference to Crataegus, Tilia, and Echium. Ecol. Entomol. 4: 9-22.
  • Cribbs, J. E. 1919. Ecology of Tilia americana. Comparative studies of the foliar transpiring power. Bot. Gaz. 68: 262-86.
  • Croizat, L. C. M. 1936. Lindens in the City of New York and its vicinity. J. New York Bot. Gard. 37: 225-31.
  • Croizat, L. C. M. 1937. Is Tilia americana L. valid? Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 37(3): 55-7.
  • Dermen, H. 1932. Chromosome numbers in the genus Tilia. J. Arnold Arbor. 13: 49-51.
  • Deshpande, B. P. 1968. Initiation of cambial activity and its relation to primary growth in Tilia americana L. Ph.D. Dissertation Univ. Wisconsin, Madison, WI,
  • Eisenhut, G. 1959. Beitroge zur Kenntnis der Blutenbildung und Fruchtentwicklung in der Gattung tilia. Flora 147: 43-75.
  • Engler, V. 1909. Monographie der Gattung Tilia.
  • Fernald, M. L. 1941. Another century of additions to the flora of Virginia. Rhodora 43: 559-630, 635-657.
  • Feucht, J. R. 1975. Little leaf linden. Amer. Horticulturist 54(3): 24-5.
  • Godman, R. M.; Mattson, G. A. 1970. Periodic growth of hardwood influenced by cold weather. J. Forest. 68(2): 86-7.
  • Grimsley, G. 1930. Some observations on Tilia (basswood) seeds. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 46: 72-3.
  • Hadfield, M. 1967. The seedlings of lime trees. Gard. Chron. Sept. 6: 12-3.
  • Hardin, J. W. 1990. Variation patterns and recognition of varieties of Tilia americana s.l. Syst. Bot. 15(1): 33-48.
  • Hickok, L. G.; Anway, J. C. 1972. A morphological and chemical analysis of geographical variation in Tilia L. of eastern North America. Brittonia 24(1): 2-8.
  • Holch, A. E. 1931. Development of roots and shoots of certain deciduous tree seedlings in different forest sites. Ecology 12(2): 259-98.
  • Hyde, H. A.; Williams, D. A. 1945. Pollen of lime (Tilia spp.). Nature 155: 475.
  • Jackson, L. W. R.; Driver, C. H. 1969. Morphology of mycorrhizae on deciduous forest tree species. Castanea 34: 230-5.
  • Johnson, L. P. V. 1946. A practical method of overcoming seed dormancy in Tilia americana L. Forest. Chron. 22: 182-90.
  • Johnson, W. C. 1988. Estimating dispersibility of Acer, Fraxinus and Tilia in fragmented landscapes from patterns of seedling establishment. Landscape Ecol. 1(3): 175-88.
  • Jones, G. N. 1968. Taxonomy of American species of linden (Tilia). Illinois Biol. Monogr. 39: 156 pp..
  • Laughlin, K. 1977. A key to the principal glabrate species of Tilia. Phytologia 35(3): 217-9.
  • Lorimer, C. G. 1981. Survival and growth of understory trees in oak forests of the Hudson Highlands, New York. Canad. J. Forest Res. 11: 689-95.
  • Manchester, S. R. 1994. Inflorescence bracts of fossil and extant Tilia in North America, Europe, and Asia: patterns of morphologic divergence and biogeographic history. Amer. J. Bot. 81: 1176-85.
  • Meehan, T. 1888. On the bract in Tilia. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 15: 316-7.
  • Millet, J. et.al. 1998. Plagiotropic architectural development of four tree species of the temperate forest. Canad. J. Bot. 76: 2100-2118.
  • Munro, D. 1986. Yellow-budded basswood (Tilia americana L.) discovered in eastern Ontario. Pl. Press (Ontario) 4: 10-1.
  • Parrish, J. A. D.; Bazzaz, F. A. 1982. Niche responses of early and late successional tree seedlings on three resource gradients. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 109(4): 451-6.
  • Pigott, C. D. 1997. Two proposals to maintain the names Tilia cordata and T. platyphyllos (Tiliaceae) in their current use. Taxon 46: 351-3.
  • Pigott, C. D. 2002. A review of chromosome numbers in the genus Tilia (Tiliaceae). Edinburgh J. Bot. 59: 239-246.
  • Pigott, C. D.; Huntley, J. P. 1981. Factors controlling the distribution of Tilia cordata at the northern limits of its geographical range. III. Nature and causes of seed sterility. New Phyt. 87: 817-39.
  • Rose, R. C. 1919. After-ripening and germination of seeds of Tilia, Sambucus, and Rubus. Bot. Gaz. 67: 281-308.
  • Rudolf, P. O. 1929. A study of the seedling root systems of certain forest trees. M.S. Thesis Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY60 p.
  • Sargent, C. S. 1891. Tilia. Silva N. Am. 1: 49-58.
  • Sargent, C. S. 1918. Notes on North American trees. III. Tilia. I. & II. Bot. Gaz. 66: 421-38, 494-511.
  • Schmersahl, K. J. 1963. Ein Beitrag zur Morphologie der Lindenbluten. Pharmazie 18: 437-40.
  • Scholz, H. F. 1958. Silvical characteristics of American basswood.
  • Sears, P. B. 1942. Postglacial migration of five forest genera. Amer. J. Bot. 29: 684-91.
  • Sharma, B. D. 1969. Pollen morphology of Tiliaceae in relation to plant taxonomy. J. Palynol. 5: 7-29.
  • Southwick, E. E. et.al. 1981. Nectar production composition energetics and pollinator attractiveness in spring flowers of western New York USA. Amer. J. Bot. 68: 994-1002.
  • Spaeth, J. N. 1934. A physiological study of dormancy in Tilia seed.
  • Spaeth, J. N. 1932. Hastening germination of basswood seeds. J. Forest. 30: 925-8.
  • Sullivan, J. 1994. Tilia americana. ()
  • Svenson, H. K. 1972. Rediscovery of Tilia neglecta Spach. Rhodora 74(800): 469-74.
  • Tang, Y.; Zhuge, R. 1996. Geographical distribution of Tilia Linn. Acta Phytotax. Sin. 34: 254-64. (In Chinese; English summary)
  • Vasil'ev, I. V. 1978. A summary of the genus Tilia L. Novit. Syst. Pl. Vasc. 8: 216-22. (Transl. from Novosti Sist. Vyssh. Rast., 8 1971.)
  • Vassiliev, I. V. 1958. Tiliaceae. (In Russian; includes ranges of N. American spp.)
  • Wade, C. A.; Ehrle, E. B.; Thompson, P. W. 1995. The big trees of Michigan: 10. Tilia americana L. Michigan Bot. 34: 141-3.
  • Weibel, R. 1945. La placentation chez les Tiliacees. Candollea 10: 155-77.
  • Young, H. W. 1873. Suffolk Co.- Riverhead. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 3: 41.