1. TILIA L. Bass Wood. Linden.
Trees, with terete moderately stout branchlets, without a terminal bud, large compressed acute axillary buds, with numerous imbricated scales, those of the inner rank accrescent, mucilaginous juice, and tough fibrous inner bark. Leaves conduplicate in the bud, long-petiolate, 2-ranked, cordate or truncate at the oblique base, acute or acuminate, serrate, deciduous, their petioles in falling leaving large elevated horizontal leaf-scars displaying the ends of numerous fibro-vascular bundles; stipules ligulate, membranaceous, caducous. Flowers nectariferous, fragrant, on slender clavate pedicels, in axillary or terminal cymes, with minute caducous bracts at the base of the branches, their peduncle more or less connate with the axis of a large membranaceous light green ligulate often obovate persistent conspicuously reticulate-veined bract; sepals 5, distinct; petals 5, imbricated in the bud, alternate with the sepals, sometimes thickened and glandular at the narrow base, creamy white or yellow, deciduous; stamens inserted on a short hypogynous receptacle; filaments filiform, forked near the apex, collected into 5 clusters and united at base with each other and (in the American species) with a spatulate petaloid scale (staminodium) placed opposite each petal, the branches of the filament bearing oblong extrorse half anthers; ovary sessile, tomentose, 5-celled, the cells opposite the sepals; style erect, dilated at apex into 5 spreading stigmatic lobes; ovules 2 in each cell, ascending from the middle of its inner angle, semianatropous, the micropyle centripetal-inferior. Fruit nut-like, woody, subglobose to short-oblong or ovoid, sometimes ribbed, tomentose, 1-celled by the obliteration of the partitions, 1 or 2-seeded. Seeds obovoid, amphitropous, ascending; seed-coat cartilaginous, light reddish brown; embryo large, often curved, in fleshy albumen; cotyledons reniform or cordate, palmately 5-lobed, the margins irregularly involute or crumpled; radicle inferior.
Tilia with some thirty species is widely distributed in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere with the exception of western America, central Asia, and the Himalayas. Tilia produces soft straight-grained pale-colored light wood, largely used for the interior finish of buildings, in cabinet-making, for the sounding-boards of pianos, wood-carving and wooden ware, and in the manufacture of paper. The tough inner bark is largely manufactured into mats, cords, fish-nets, coarse cloths, and shoes. Lime-flower oil, obtained by distilling the flowers of the European species, is used in perfumery. The flowers yield large quantities of nectar, and honey made near forests of Tilia is unsurpassed in flavor and delicacy. Many of the species are planted as shade and ornamental trees, and some of the European species are now common in the gardens and parks of the eastern United States.
CONSPECTUS OF THE SPECIES OF THE UNITED STATES.
Surface of the leaves glabrous at maturity. Leaves glabrous or almost glabrous when they unfold, coarsely serrate. Leaves furnished with conspicuous tufts of axillary hairs, their lower surface light green and lustrous; pedicels glabrous or nearly glabrous.1. [T. glabra] (A). Leaves usually without tufts of axillary hairs, their lower surface not lustrous; pedicels densely hoary-tomentose.2. [T. nuda] (C). Leaves hoary-tomentose when they unfold. Leaves soon glabrous. Leaves coarsely serrate with stout teeth, their veinlets conspicuous; branchlets stout, bright red.3. [T. venulosa] (A). Leaves finely serrate with straight or incurved teeth, their veinlets less conspicuous; branchlets slender, pale reddish brown.4. [T. littoralis] (C). Leaves crenately serrate, glaucescent on the lower surface.5. [T. crenoserrata] (C). Leaves covered below early in the season with articulate hairs, becoming glabrous or nearly glabrous. Leaves thin, coarsely serrate, green or glaucescent on the lower surface, with or without tufts of axillary hairs; summer shoots not pubescent.6. [T. floridana] (C). Leaves subcoriaceous, finely serrate, bluish green and lustrous below early in the season; tufts of axillary hairs minute, usually wanting; summer shoots pubescent.7. [T. Cocksii] (C). Surface of the leaves pubescent below during the season. Lower surface of the leaves covered with short gray firmly attached pubescence; tufts of axillary hairs not conspicuous.8. [T. neglecta] (A, C). Lower surface of the leaves covered with articulate easily detached hairs. Branchlets without straight hairs. Leaves ovate, acuminate, usually obliquely truncate at base, glabrous above, their pubescence brownish or white.9. [T. caroliniana] (C). Leaves oblong-ovate, cordate or obliquely cordate at base, pubescent above early in the season.10. [T. texana] (C). Leaves semiorbicular to broad-ovate, abruptly short-pointed, deeply and usually symmetrically cordate at base.11. [T. phanera] (C). Branchlets covered with straight hairs; leaves ovate, abruptly short-pointed, oblique and truncate at base.12. [T. lasioclada] (C). Surface of the leaves tomentose below during the season with close firmly attached tomentum. Tomentum white, gray, or brown; leaves usually glabrous on the upper surface; branchlets and winter-buds glabrous (occasionally pubescent in varieties of 13). Branchlets slender; petioles not more than 1½′ in length; leaves oblong-ovate, acuminate or abruptly pointed, oblique and truncate or cordate at base; tomentum on the leaves of upper branches often brown; flowers ¼′—⅓′ long.13. [T. heterophylla] (A, C). Branchlets stout; petioles up to 3′ in length; leaves oblong-ovate, acuminate, obliquely truncate at base; tomentum always white; flowers 5/12′½′ long.14. [T. monticola] (A). Tomentum pale or brownish; leaves thickly covered above early in the season with fascicled hairs; branchlets tomentose; winter-buds pubescent.15. [T. georgiana] (C).
1. [Tilia glabra] Vent. Linden. Bass Wood.
Tilia americana L.
Leaves broad-ovate, contracted at apex into a slender acuminate entire point, obliquely cordate or sometimes almost truncate at base, coarsely serrate with incurved glandular teeth, often slightly pubescent when they first appear soon glabrous with the exception of tufts of rusty brown hairs in the axils of the principal veins below, thick and firm, dark dull green on the upper surface, lighter, yellow-green and lustrous on the lower surface, 5′—6′ long and 3′—4′ wide; turning pale yellow in the autumn before falling; petioles slender, 1½′—2′ in length. Flowers ½′ long, opening early in July on slender slightly angled pubescent pedicels, in few-flowered slender-branched glabrous cymes; peduncle slender, glabrous, the free portion 3½′—4′ long, its bract rounded or pointed at apex, 4′—5′ long, 1′—1½′ wide, decurrent nearly to the base or to within ½′—1′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acuminate, densely hairy on the inner surface and slightly pubescent on the outer surface, a third shorter than the lanceolate petals; staminodia oblong-obovate, bluntly pointed at apex, a third shorter than the petals; ovary villose; style covered with rufous tomentum. Fruit short-oblong to oblong-obovoid, rounded or pointed at apex, ⅓′—½′ long, and covered with short thick rufous tomentum.
A tree, usually 60°—70°, or sometimes 120°—130° high, with a tall trunk 3°—4° in diameter, small often pendulous branches forming a broad round-topped head, slender smooth glabrous light gray or light brown branchlets marked by numerous oblong dark lenticels, becoming darker in their second and dark gray or brown and conspicuously rugose in their third year. Winter-buds dark red, ovoid, about ¼′ long. Bark of the trunk about 1′ thick, deeply furrowed, the light brown surface broken into small thin scales. Wood light brown faintly tinged with red, with thick hardly distinguishable sapwood of 55—65 layers of annual growth; employed in the manufacture of paper pulp, and under the name of white wood largely used in wooden ware, cheap furniture, the panels of carriages, and for the inner soles of shoes.
Distribution. Rich often moist soil, formerly often in nearly pure forests; northern New Brunswick to the eastern shores of Lake Superior, the southern shores of Lake Winnipeg and the valley of the Assiniboine River, and southward to Pennsylvania, Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southern Michigan, Indiana and Illinois, eastern Nebraska and northern Missouri.
Often cultivated as a shade and ornamental tree in the northeastern states, and occasionally in Europe.
2. [Tilia nuda] Sarg.
Leaves thin, ovate, abruptly pointed at apex, obliquely truncate or unsymmetrically cordate at base, and coarsely serrate with long slender straight or slightly curved conspicuously glandular teeth, as they unfold, dark red and sparingly pubescent on the midrib and veins, glabrous at the end of a few days, without or rarely with small axillary tufts, dark green on the upper surface, pale yellow-green or glaucous (var. glaucescens Sarg.) on the lower surface, 4′—4½′ long and 2½′—3½′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, 2′—2½′ in length. Flowers opening early in June, about ⅓′ long, on hoary-tomentose pedicels, in broad usually 10 or 12, sometimes 30 or 40-flowered long-branched glabrous cymes; peduncle glabrous, the free portion ⅘′—1¼′ in length, its bract oblong, often slightly falcate, cuneate or rounded at base, rounded at apex, glabrous, 3′—4′ long, ½′—1¼′ wide, decurrent nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals acute, rusty-tomentose on the outer surface, glabrous on the inner surface; petals oblong-ovate, narrowed at the rounded apex; staminodia oblong-obovate rounded at the broad apex; style glabrous. Fruit ripening in September, subglobose to depressed-globose, covered with rusty tomentum, ¼′—⅓′ in diameter.
Usually a small tree with pale furrowed or sometimes checkered bark, small spreading branches forming a narrow round-topped head, and slender glabrous orange or red-brown branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, obtusely pointed, dull red, glabrous, ⅙′—⅕′ long.
Distribution. Central and southwestern Mississippi (Hinds and Adams Counties); Dallas County, Alabama; West Feliciana and Calcasieu Parishes, Louisiana, to the valley of the Brazos River, eastern Texas, and to Hempstead County (Fulton and McNab), southern Arkansas; the var. glaucescens with the type, and near Page, Le Flore County, Oklahoma; in wet woods subject to overflow at San Augustine, San Augustine County, Texas, a variety (var. brevipedunculata Sarg.), differs from the type in the less coarsely serrate smaller leaves glaucescent below, in the shorter free portion of the peduncle of the inflorescence and its broader bract. A tree 25°—30° high, with slender glabrous dark red-brown branchlets.
3. [Tilia venulosa] Sarg.
Leaves broad-ovate, abruptly acuminate at apex, cordate or unsymmetrically cordate or obliquely truncate or cordate at base, coarsely serrate with gland-tipped teeth pointing forward, covered when they unfold with pale tomentum, soon becoming pubescent, and glabrous before the flowers open, dark yellow-green on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, 4′—4¾′ long and broad, with a prominent pale yellow midrib slightly villose on the upper side near the base, and 9 or 10 pairs of remote primary veins without axillary tufts and connected by conspicuous cross veinlets; petioles stout, glabrous, 1¾′—2′ in length. Flowers opening early in July, ⅓′ long, on slightly pubescent pedicels, in broad slender-branched nearly glabrous cymes; peduncle stout, glabrous, red, the free portion 1′—1½′ in length, its bract oblong to slightly obovate, gradually narrowed and rounded at base, rounded at apex, glabrous on the upper surface, pubescent below on the midrib and veins, 3½′—6′ long and 1¼′—1½′ wide, longer than the peduncle and decurrent nearly to its base or to within 1′—1½′ of its base; sepals ovate, acute, pale pubescent on the outer surface, villose and furnished at base on the inner surface with a tuft of long white hairs, a third shorter than the lanceolate acuminate petals; staminodia oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, about as long as the sepals; stigma slightly villose at base. Fruit ripening the end of September, subglobose, ¼′—⅓′ in diameter, covered with loose light brown pubescence.
A tree, 60°—75° high, with stout red glabrous branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, cylindric, obtusely pointed, dark red, ¼′—⅓′ in length.
Distribution. North Carolina, rocky “coves” in rich soil, Hickory Nut Gap, in the Blue Ridge, and near Saluda, Polk County, passing into var. multinervis Sarg., differing from the type in its obliquely truncate, not cordate, leaves with 12 or 13 pairs of more crowded primary veins, ellipsoid fruit, slender branchlets, and smaller winter-buds; a single tree near Saluda, Polk County.
4. [Tilia littoralis] Sarg.
Leaves ovate, abruptly short-pointed and acute or acuminate at apex, unsymmetric and rounded on one side and cuneate on the other, or symmetric and cuneate or oblique and truncate at base, and finely serrate with straight or incurved glandular teeth, covered above when they unfold with scattered fascicled hairs and tomentose below, soon glabrous, and when the flowers open, thin, yellow-green, paler, rarely glaucous (var. discolor Sarg.) on the lower than on the upper surface, 3′—4′ long and 1¾′—2′ wide, with a slender midrib and primary veins and small conspicuous tufts of rusty brown axillary hairs; petioles slender, glabrous, 1′—1½′ in length; leaves on young vigorous shoots broad-ovate, truncate or slightly cordate at base, more coarsely serrate, pubescent with fascicled hairs especially on the midrib and veins, 4′—5′ long and 3′—4′ wide; petioles densely pubescent. Flowers opening the middle of June, ⅓′ long, on pale tomentose pedicels, in small, compact, mostly 9—15-flowered, pubescent cymes; peduncle covered with scattered fascicled hairs, the free portion ⅗′—1′ long, its bract gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, rounded at apex, ciliate on the margins, pubescent on the midrib, otherwise glabrous, 2′—7′ long, ¼′—⅖′ wide, longer or shorter than and decurrent to the base or nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals acuminate, pale pubescent on the outer surface, villose on the inner surface along the margins and at the base with long white hairs; petals acuminate; staminodia oblong-obovate, rounded at apex. Fruit ellipsoid to depressed-globose, apiculate, covered with pale brown tomentum, ¼′—⅓′ in diameter.
A tree with slender glabrous branchlets densely coated when they first appear with pale pubescence, soon glabrous, light reddish brown during their first summer, often bright red during their first winter, becoming purple the following year and ultimately light gray-brown. Winter-buds ovoid, glabrous or puberulous, bright red, about ⅕′ long and 1/12′—⅛′ in diameter.
Distribution. Georgia, shore of Colonel’s Island near the mouths of the North Newport and Medway Rivers, near Durham, Liberty County; the var. discolor with the type
5. [Tilia crenoserrata] Sarg.
Tilia floridana Sarg., not Small.
Leaves ovate, abruptly narrowed and acuminate at apex, usually oblique and unsymmetrically cordate or truncate or occasionally symmetrical and cordate at base, crenately serrate, the teeth tipped with minute glands, covered when they unfold with pale caducous tomentum, and at maturity dark green and lustrous above, glaucescent below, glabrous with the exception of minute axillary tufts of rusty hairs, mostly 3½′—5½′ long and 2¾′—3′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, about 1¼′ in length. Flowers opening the middle of June, ⅓′ long, on hoary-tomentose pedicels, in compact mostly 10—18-flowered tomentose cymes; peduncle glabrous, the free portion 1′—1½′ in length, its bract oblong-obovate, cuneate at base, rounded at apex, glabrous, 3′—5′ long, usually about ⅘′ wide, decurrent nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals acute, hoary-tomentose on the outer surface, coated with pale tomentum mixed with long white hairs on the inner surface; petals narrow-acuminate; staminodia oblong-obovate, notched at apex. Fruit ripening from the middle to the end of August, ellipsoid, conspicuously apiculate at apex, rusty-tomentose, ⅓′—⅖′ long and ¼′—⅓′ in diameter.
A tree, 25°—30°, rarely 60° high, with a trunk 10′—12′ rarely 18′—20′ in diameter, and slender glabrous red-brown branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, dark dull red, glabrous, ⅙′—⅕′ long.
Distribution. Near Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia, to central Florida (Levy, Columbia, Alachua, Putnam, Seminole and Orange Counties).
6. [Tilia floridana] Ashe.
Leaves broad-ovate, acuminate or abruptly acuminate at apex, cordate or obliquely truncate at base and coarsely serrate with apiculate teeth, tinged with red and tomentose below when they unfold, fully grown and glabrous or nearly glabrous when the flowers open late in May or in early June, and at maturity thin, glabrous, dark yellow-green on the upper surface, pale or rarely covered below with a silvery white bloom (var. hypoleuca Sarg.), 3½′—5′ long and 2½′—3½′ wide, with a slender midrib and primary veins; in the east usually without axillary tufts, often present and sometimes conspicuous westward; petioles slender, glabrous, ¾′—1′ in length. Flowers opening in early summer ⅕′—¼′ long, on hoary-tomentose rarely puberulous (var. australis Sarg.) pedicels, in few-flowered rather compact pubescent corymbs; peduncle pubescent, the free portion 1½′—2½′ in length, its bract oblong-obovate to oblong, rounded at apex, often falcate, glabrous, 3′—6′ long, ½′—¾′ wide, decurrent nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals narrow, ovate, acuminate, hoary-tomentose on the outer surface, sparingly villose on the inner surface, two-thirds as long as the lanceolate petals; staminodia oblong-obovate, acute, nearly as long as the petals; style glabrous. Fruit ripening in August and September, subglobose to ellipsoid, rusty-tomentose, ½′ in diameter.
A tree, 40°—50° high, with a trunk 12′—15′ in diameter, and slender glabrous red-brown or yellow branchlets. Winter-buds obtuse, dark red-brown, glabrous, about ⅙′ long.
Distribution. North Carolina (Polk County) to western Florida and westward through northern and central Alabama, central Mississippi, northern and western Louisiana, eastern and over the Edwards Plateau to Kerr, Bandera and Uvalde Counties, Texas, and through southern and western Arkansas to eastern Oklahoma, Missouri and eastern Kentucky; in northeastern Mexico; the var. australis in Blount County, Alabama. A variety (var. oblongifolia Sarg.) with narrower more elongated leaves with more prominent tufts of axillary hairs occurs in Putnam, Leon and Gadsden Counties, Florida, on the bluffs of the Alabama River near Berlin, Dallas County, Alabama, in Hinds, Rankin and Adams Counties, Mississippi, in West Feliciana, Iberia (Avery Island) and Natchitoches Parishes, Louisiana, in Hempstead and Salina Counties, Arkansas, and in Harris, Anderson and Livingston Counties, Texas.
7. [Tilia Cocksii] Sarg.
Leaves ovate, abruptly acuminate at apex, very oblique at the truncate or rounded base, dentate with small remote glandular apiculate teeth, covered when they unfold with loose floccose pubescence, nearly glabrous when fully grown early in April, when the flowers open the middle of May dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale blue-green and lustrous below, and at mid-summer when the fruit ripens, subcoriaceous, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, paler on the lower surface, with slender primary veins without or occasionally with minute axillary tufts, and connected by conspicuous straight or curved veinlets, 3½′—4′ long and 2½′—3′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, ¾′—1′ in length; leaves on leading summer branchlets sometimes obliquely cordate, more coarsely serrate, covered on the upper surface with short fascicled hairs, and floccose-pubescent on the lower surface, 4′—5′ long and 4′—4¾′ wide, their petioles puberulous. Flowers opening the middle of May, ¼′ long, on tomentose pedicels, in compact pubescent many-flowered cymes; peduncle slender, glabrous, the free portion only ⅗′—⅘′ in length, its bract oblong, occasionally slightly obovate, rounded at the ends, hoary-tomentose on the under surface and pubescent on the upper surface when it first appears, and when the flowers open puberulous below and glabrous above, 3½′—6′ long, ½′—⅗′ wide and shorter than and decurrent to the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acuminate, pale pubescent on the outer surface, villose at the base on the inner surface, a third shorter than the lanceolate acuminate petals; staminodia oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, about half the length of the petals; style glabrous. Fruit ripening the middle of July, globose to depressed-globose, covered with loose brown tomentum, ¼′ in diameter.
A small tree with slender dull red glabrous branchlets, the leading branchlets in summer more or less pubescent. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, dull red, glabrous or pubescent on leading shoots, ⅕′—¼′ long.
Distribution. Louisiana, river banks and low woods, Lake Charles and West Lake Charles, Calcasieu Parish.
8. [Tilia neglecta] Spach.
Tilia Michauxii Sarg., not Nutt.
Leaves thick and firm, acute or abruptly narrowed and long-pointed at apex, obliquely concave or unsymmetrically cordate at base, coarsely serrate with straight apiculate teeth pointing forward, dark green, smooth, glabrous and lustrous above, covered below except on the midrib and veins more or less thickly with short gray pubescence often slightly tinged with brown, and furnished with conspicuous tufts of axillary hairs, usually 4′—5½′ long and 2½′—4½′ wide; petioles stout, glabrous, 1¼′—2½′ in length. Flowers opening in June and July about ⅖′ long, on pubescent or nearly glabrous pedicels, in long-branched slender glabrous mostly 5—15-flowered cymes; peduncle slender, glabrous, the free portion 1¼′—1½′ in length, its bract gradually narrowed and cuneate or unsymmetrically cuneate or rounded at base, rounded at apex, glabrous, 2¾′—4½′ long, ⅖′—⅘′ wide and longer than and decurrent nearly to the base or to within ⅗′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals broad-ovate, acute, ciliate on the margins, glabrous on the outer surface, covered on the inner surface with long white hairs, about half as long as the lanceolate petals rounded and notched at apex and rather longer than the spatulate staminodia; stamens included; style villose toward the base. Fruit ripening in September, ellipsoid, ovoid, obovoid, or depressed-globose, rounded or acute or rarely gradually narrowed and acuminate at apex, rarely 5-angled, covered with rusty or pale pubescence, usually about ⅓′ in diameter.
A tree, 75°—90° high, with a trunk sometimes 3° in diameter, smooth often pendulous branches forming a broad round head, and slender glabrous branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, rounded at the narrowed apex, about ⅕′ long, with glabrous red-brown or light brown scales. Bark of the trunk about 1′ thick, deeply furrowed, pale reddish brown and covered with small thin scales.
Distribution. Rich moist soil, Province of Quebec, near Montreal, to the coast of Massachusetts and New York, through the middle states to the valley of the Potomac River and along the Appalachian Mountains to those of North Carolina, and to Iuka, Tishomingo County, Mississippi, and from central and western New York to northern Missouri.
9. [Tilia caroliniana] Mill.
Leaves ovate, oblique and truncate or cordate at base, abruptly long-pointed at apex, coarsely dentate with broad apiculate glandular teeth pointing forward, and coated below with a rusty or pale easily detached pubescence of fascicled hairs, coated when they unfold with hoary tomentum, soon glabrous on the upper surface, and at maturity dark yellow-green and lustrous above, 2¾′—4½′ long and 2½′—5′ wide; petioles stout, glabrous, 1′—1½′ in length. Flowers opening the middle of June, ¼′ long, on slender pubescent pedicels, in small stout-branched pubescent mostly 8—15-flowered cymes; peduncle slender, pubescent, the free portion ¾′—1¼′ long, its bract oblong-obovate, cuneate at base, rounded or acute at apex, nearly glabrous on the upper surface when it first appears, pubescent becoming glabrous or almost glabrous below, 4′—5′ long and ⅘′ wide, longer or shorter than and decurrent to the base or nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acuminate, ciliate on the margins, brown and covered with pale pubescence on the outer surface, coated on the inner surface with long white hairs; petals lanceolate, acuminate, a third longer than the sepals; staminodia oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, rather shorter than the petals; style tomentose at base or glabrous. Fruit subglobose, ellipsoid or obovoid, ⅛′ in diameter.
A large tree with slender red-brown glabrous or slightly pubescent branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, glabrous or rarely pubescent, about ¼′ long.
Distribution. Coast of North Carolina (Wrightsville Beach and the neighborhood of Wilmington, New Hanover County), southward in the immediate neighborhood of the coast to Liberty County, Georgia; western Louisiana to southern Arkansas (Hempstead and Clark Counties) common, and through eastern Texas to the Edwards Plateau (near Boerne, Kendall County); in Orizaba. Passing into
Tilia caroliniana var. rhoophila Sarg.
Differing from the type in its pubescent branchlets and winter-buds, its usually larger leaves, and in its tomentose corymbs of more numerous flowers. Leaves broad-ovate, abruptly short-pointed and acuminate at apex, oblique and truncate or cordate at base, coarsely serrate with broad apiculate teeth pointing forward, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, pale and thickly covered on the lower surface with persistent white or brownish pubescence, 4′—5′ long and 2½′—5′ wide, with a slender midrib and primary veins pubescent on the lower side, and small conspicuous axillary tufts of pale hairs; petioles stout, thickly coated with pubescence, 1′—1¾′ in length; leaves on vigorous shoots often 6′ long, and 5½′ wide, and occasionally 10′ long and 9′ wide. Flowers ¼′ long, on short hoary-tomentose pedicels, in wide thin-branched pubescent many-flowered (sometimes 50) cymes; peduncle thickly covered with fascicled hairs, the free portion ¼′ long, its bract oblong, unequally rounded at base, rounded at apex, glabrous on the upper surface, pubescent on the lower surface, 4′—6′ long, 1′—2′ wide, usually shorter than and decurrent nearly to the base of the peduncle; sepals acuminate, coated on the outer surface with pale or slightly rusty pubescence, villose and furnished at base on the inner surface with tufts of long hairs; petals lanceolate, acuminate and ciliate at apex, about a third longer than the sepals; staminodia spatulate, acute, about half the length of the petals; style coated at base with long white hairs. Fruit subglobose, covered with rusty tomentum, about ⅓′ in diameter.
A tree with slender branchlets thickly coated during their first year with pale pubescence, dark red-brown or gray and puberulous during their second season. Winter-buds covered with pale pubescence.
Distribution. Western Louisiana (Calcasieu and Jefferson Davis Parishes) to Hempstead County, Arkansas, and through eastern Texas to the valley of the upper Guadalupe River, Kerr County.
10. [Tilia texana] Sarg.
Leaves thin, oblong-ovate, abruptly contracted into a long slender acuminate point, cordate or obliquely cordate at base, finely dentate with broad apiculate teeth, early in the season pubescent above with scattered fascicled hairs and covered below with brownish slightly attached pubescence, and in the autumn light yellow-green, lustrous and nearly glabrous on the upper surface, slightly pubescent on the lower surface, 4′—5½′ long and 3¼′—5′ wide, with a slender midrib and primary veins sparingly villose on the upper side and nearly glabrous on the lower side, and small axillary tufts of brownish hairs; petioles slender, pubescent with fascicled hairs, 1′—1½′ in length; leaves on vigorous shoots often furnished with one or two large lateral acuminate serrate lobes, more coarsely dentate and more thickly covered on the lower surface with pubescence, often 5½′—6′ long and 3½′—6′ wide. Flowers opening the middle of June, ¼′ long, on slender tomentose pedicels, in small villose-pubescent mostly 7—10-flowered cymes; peduncle slender, slightly villose-pubescent, the free portion 1¼′—1½′ in length, its bract oblong-ovate to slightly obovate, unsymmetrically cuneate at base, rounded and occasionally lobed at apex, glabrous on the upper surface, densely pubescent early in the season, later becoming nearly glabrous on the lower surface, 3′—6′ long and ¾′—1¼′ wide, longer or shorter than the peduncle and decurrent to its base or to within 1½′ of its base; sepals ovate, acute, pale pubescent on the outer surface, covered on the inner surface with white hairs longer and more abundant near the base; petals lanceolate, acuminate, a third longer than the sepals; staminodia linear-lanceolate, acuminate; style hoary-tomentose at base. Fruit ellipsoid, covered with rusty brown tomentum, ⅓′ long and ¼′ broad.
A small tree with slender branchlets thickly covered during their first season with close pale pubescence, and pale and puberulous or glabrous in their second year; on vigorous terminal branchlets often with thicker, light rusty brown pubescence. Winter-buds ovoid, obtusely pointed, thickly covered with pale pubescence, ¼′ long.
Distribution. Texas, Brazos and Cherokee Counties, on Spring Creek near Boerne, Kendall County, and on the rocky banks of the Guadalupe River at Kerrville, Kerr County.
11. [Tilia phanera] Sarg.
Leaves semiorbicular to broad-ovate, deeply and usually symmetrically cordate at base, abruptly short-pointed at apex, finely dentate with straight or incurved apiculate teeth, glabrous above when they unfold with the exception of a few hairs on the midrib and veins, and thickly coated below with hoary tomentum, and at maturity thin, blue-green, smooth and lustrous on the upper surface, paler and often brownish and coated with a floccose easily detached pubescence of fascicled hairs or scabrate (var. scabrida Sarg.) on the lower surface, 2′—4′ wide and usually rather broader than long, with a slender midrib and primary veins pubescent on the lower side, and small axillary clusters of rusty brown hairs; petioles slender, coated when they first appear with hoary tomentum, glabrous or slightly pubescent in the autumn, 1′—1½′ in length. Flowers opening the middle of June, ⅕′ long, on tomentose pedicels, in compact villose mostly 16—20-flowered cymes; peduncle villose, the free portion 1¼′ in length, its bract obovate, cuneate at base, broad and rounded at apex, floccose-pubescent on the lower surface, nearly glabrous on the upper surface, 3′—3½′ long and ½′—1′ wide, longer than the peduncle and decurrent to its base or to within ¼′ of its base; sepals acuminate, pale pubescent on the outer surface, villose on the margins and furnished at base on the inner surface with a tuft of long white hairs, broader and shorter than the lanceolate acuminate petals; staminodia oblong-obovate, rounded at apex, style glabrous except at the base. Fruit ripening the end of September, ellipsoid, covered with rusty tomentum, ⅓′—⅖′ long and ¼′ wide, on a stout, densely floccose-pubescent pedicel.
A tree with slender light gray-brown often zigzag branchlets covered when they first appear with fascicled hairs and deciduous during their first summer. Winter-buds ovoid, obtusely pointed, terete, reddish brown, glabrous, ⅙′—⅕′ long.
Distribution. Texas, banks of Spring Creek, near Boerne, Kendall County; the var. scabrida on a low limestone bluff of the Blanco River, near Blanco, Blanco County, near College Station, Brazos County, and at Velasco, Brazoria County.
12. [Tilia lasioclada] Sarg.
Leaves ovate, abruptly contracted at apex into a short acuminate point, oblique and truncate or on weak branchlets, often nearly symmetric and deeply cordate at base, and finely serrate with straight apiculate teeth, covered above when they unfold with soft caducous hairs and pubescent below, and at maturity thick, bright green, smooth and lustrous on the upper surface, pale and covered on the lower surface with a thick floccose easily detached pubescence of fascicled hairs, pale on those of lower leaves and often rufous on those of upper branches, 4′—6′ long and 3¼′—5′ wide, with a slender midrib and veins covered below with straight hairs mixed with fascicled hairs, and small conspicuous axillary tufts; petioles covered when they first appear with straight hairs mixed with fascicled hairs, soon glabrous, usually 1¼′—1½′ in length, those of the leaves of weak branchlets very slender and often 2′—2½′ long. Flowers in May, ⅙′—⅕′ long, on stout villose pedicels, in long-branched mostly 10—15-flowered cymes more or less thickly covered with straight white hairs; peduncle covered with long white hairs, the free portion 1′—1¼′ in length, its bract rounded and unsymmetric or acute at base, rounded or acute at apex, the midrib more or less thickly covered on the lower side with straight hairs, otherwise glabrous, 3½′—5′ long and 1′ wide, decurrent nearly to the base or to within 1′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals narrow, acute, pubescent on the outer surface, villose on the inner surface, about one-third as long as the lanceolate acuminate petals; staminodia spatulate, rounded and often lobed at apex, about as long as the sepals; style slightly villose at base. Fruit ripening in September, globose or depressed-globose, covered with rusty tomentum, about ⅖′ in diameter.
A tree, sometimes 60° high, with a trunk 12′—24′ in diameter, heavy branches forming a broad round-topped head, and stout red-brown branchlets sometimes glabrous in early summer and sometimes covered more or less thickly during their first and second seasons with long straight hairs.
Distribution. Valley of the Savannah River, near Abbeville, South Carolina, to Shell Bluff, Burke County, Georgia; River Junction, Gadsden County, Florida.
13. [Tilia heterophylla] Vent.
Leaves ovate, obliquely truncate or rarely slightly cordate at base, gradually narrowed and acuminate at apex, finely dentate with apiculate gland-tipped teeth, pubescent above when they unfold with caducous fascicled hairs, and at maturity dark green and glabrous on the upper surface, covered on the lower surface with thick, firmly attached, white or on upper branches often brownish tomentum, and usually furnished with small axillary tufts of rusty brown hairs, 3¼′—5¼′ long and 2½′—2¾′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, 1½′—1¾′ in length. Flowers ¼′ long, opening in early summer, on pedicels pubescent with fascicled hairs, in wide mostly 10—20-flowered pubescent corymbs; peduncle glabrous, the free portion 1/12′—⅙′ in length, its bract narrowed and rounded at apex, unsymmetrically cuneate at base, pubescent on the upper surface, tomentose on the lower surface when it first appears, becoming glabrous, 4′—6′ long and 1′—1½′ wide, nearly sessile or decurrent to within 1½′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals acuminate, pale-pubescent on the outer surface, villose on the inner surface and furnished at base with a tuft of long white hairs; petals lanceolate, acuminate, a third longer than the sepals; staminodia oblong-ovate, acute, sometimes notched at apex; style villose at base with long white hairs. Fruit ellipsoid, apiculate at apex, covered with rusty brown tomentum, about ⅓′ long.
A large tree with slender, glabrous, reddish or yellowish brown branchlets and oblong-ovate slightly flattened glabrous winter-buds ⅕′—⅓′ in length, the outer scales slightly ciliate at apex.
Distribution. White Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County, West Virginia; Piedmont region of North and South Carolina and Georgia; near Tallahassee, Leon County, River Junction, Gadsden County, and Rock Cave, Jackson County, Florida; near Selma and Berlin, Dallas County, Alabama; Vevay, Switzerland County, and near the Ohio River, Jefferson County, Indiana; not common. Passing into the var. amphiloba Sarg., differing from the type in the fascicled hairs on the upper surface of the young leaves and in the often pubescent branchlets; woods in sandy soil near River Junction, Gadsden County, Florida, and Valley Head, DeKalb County, Alabama; and into var. nivea Sarg., differing from the type in the white tomentum on the lower surface of the leaves, the glabrous styles, in the tomentum on the lower side of the floral bract when the flowers open, the pubescent gray or pale reddish brown branchlets and in the puberulous winter-buds; deep woods, River Junction, Gadsden County, Florida. More important is
Tilia heterophylla var. Michauxii Sarg.
Tilia Michauxii Nutt.
Leaves ovate to ovate-oblong, acute or abruptly short-pointed at the broad apex, cordate, obliquely cordate, or rarely obliquely truncate at base, and coarsely serrate with apiculate teeth, pubescent above when they unfold with caducous fascicled hairs, and hoary-tomentose beneath, and at maturity thin, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface and coated below with short white or grayish white tomentum, 3½′—6′ long and 3½′—5′ wide, with a slender yellow midrib and primary veins usually without axillary tufts; petioles slender, sparingly villose when they first appear, soon glabrous, 1½′—2½′ in length. Flowers ⅓′ long, opening about the 1st of July, on slender puberulous pedicels ¼′ in length, in wide long-stemmed puberulous cymes; peduncle pubescent, becoming glabrous, the free portion 1¾′—2′ in length, its bract obovoid, rounded or acute at apex, 3½′—5′ long and ½′—1′ wide, decurrent to within ⅓′—¾′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acuminate, ciliate on the margins, puberulous on the outer surface, tomentose on the inner surface, ¼′ long, shorter than the lanceolate acuminate petals; staminodia oblong-obovoid, rounded or emarginate at apex; style glabrous. Fruit ripening in September, subglobose, rusty-tomentose, ¼′—⅓′ in diameter.
A large tree with slender glabrous light red-brown branchlets. Winter-buds ovoid, acute, slightly flattened, red, about ¼′ in length. Bark of the trunk 1′ thick, deeply furrowed, reddish or grayish brown and covered with small thin scales.
Distribution. Pennsylvania, valley of the Susquehanna River (Lancaster County) to southern and western New York and through southern Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to northeastern Missouri (near Ilasco, Ralls County), and southward through eastern Kentucky and Tennessee to northeastern Mississippi, and along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia; southern Georgia (Dougherty and Decatur Counties), Dallas County, Alabama; southwestern Missouri (Eagle Rock, Barry County), and northwestern Arkansas (Eureka Springs, Carroll County, and Cotter, Marion County).
14. [Tilia monticola] Sarg.
Tilia heterophylla Sarg., in part, not Vent.
Leaves thin, gradually narrowed and acuminate at apex, ovate to oblong-ovate, very oblique and truncate or obliquely cordate at base, finely serrate with straight or incurved apiculate teeth, smooth, dark green and lustrous on the upper surface, thickly coated on the lower surface with hoary tomentum, 4′—7′ long and 3′—5′ wide; petioles slender, glabrous, 1½′—3′ in length. Flowers from the middle to the end of July, ⅖′—½′ long, on stout sparingly pubescent pedicels, in mostly 7—10-flowered thin-branched glabrous cymes; peduncle slender, glabrous, the free portion 1⅓′—1½′ in length, its bract gradually narrowed and cuneate or rounded at base, narrowed and rounded at apex, glabrous, 4′—5½′ long and ⅘′—1′ wide, decurrent to within 1/24′—⅛′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acute, ciliate on the margins, covered on the outer surface with short pale pubescence and with silky white hairs on the inner surface; petals lanceolate, acuminate, twice longer than the sepals; staminodia oblong-lanceolate, rounded at the narrowed apex, as long or nearly as long as the petals; style clothed at the base with long white hairs. Fruit ripening in September, ovoid to ellipsoid, covered with pale rusty tomentum, ¼′—⅓′ long and about ¼′ in diameter.
A tree rarely exceeding 60° in height with a trunk 3°—4½° in diameter, slender branches forming a narrow rather pyramidal head, and stout glabrous branchlets usually bright red during their first year, becoming brown in their second season. Winter-buds compressed, ovoid, acute or rounded at apex, light red, covered with a glaucous bloom, ⅓′—½′ long. Bark of the trunk ⅗′ in thickness, deeply furrowed, the surface broken into small thin light brown scales.
Distribution. Appalachian Mountains at altitudes usually from 2500°—3000°, Farmer Mountain, on New River, Connell County, Virginia, to Johnson City, Washington County. Tennessee, and to Highlands, Macon County, North Carolina.
15. [Tilia georgiana] Sarg.
Leaves ovate, abruptly short-pointed at apex, slightly unsymmetric and usually cordate on lateral branches and often oblique or truncate on leading branches at base, and finely dentate with glandular teeth pointing forward, when they unfold deeply tinged with red, covered above by fascicled hairs and tomentose below, when the flowers open the middle of June dark yellow-green, dull and scabrate above and covered below with a thick coat of tomentum, pale on those of lower branches and tinged with brown on those from the top of the tree, and conspicuously reticulate-venulose, and at maturity thick, dull yellow-green, pubescent or glabrous above, rusty or pale tomentose below, sometimes becoming nearly glabrous in the autumn, 2½′—4′ long and 2′—3′ wide; petioles slender, tomentose, 1′—1½′ in length. Flowers ¼′—⅓′ long, on slender pubescent pedicels, in compact slender-branched pubescent mostly 10—15-flowered corymbs; peduncle slender, densely pubescent, the free portion 1′—1½′ in length, its bract oblong to obovate, rounded at apex, rounded or cuneate at base, pubescent, becoming nearly glabrous, 2½′—4′ long and ¾′—1½′ wide, decurrent to the base or to within 1′ of the base of the peduncle; sepals ovate, acuminate, coated on the outer surface with pale pubescence and on the inner surface with pale hairs longest and most abundant at the base, not more than one-half the length of the lanceolate acuminate narrow petals; staminodia oblong-obovate to spatulate, acute, about two-thirds as long as the petals; style glabrous or furnished with a few hairs at the very base. Fruit ripens early in September on pubescent pedicels, depressed-globose, occasionally slightly grooved and ridged, covered with thick rusty tomentum, ⅕′—¼′ in diameter.
A small tree, with slender branchlets thickly coated during their first season with pale tomentum, and dark red-brown or brown and puberulous in their second year. Winter-buds covered with rusty brown pubescence, ¼′—⅓′ long.
Distribution. Coast of South Carolina, near Charleston; Colonel’s Island near the mouths of the North Newport and Medway Rivers, near Dunham, Liberty County, and at Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia, to central and western Florida.
Tilia georgiana var. crinita Sarg.
Tilia pubescens Sarg., in part, not Vent.
Differing in the longer and more matted usually rusty brown hairs of the pubescence, usually less closely attached to the under surface of the leaves and often conspicuous on the young branches.
A tree, 30°—40° high, with a trunk rarely exceeding 15′ in diameter, and slender branchlets densely rusty pubescent during their first season, and during their third year becoming glabrous, red-brown, rugose and marked by occasional small lenticels. Winter-buds acuminate, dark reddish brown and covered with short reddish pubescence. Bark of the trunk ½′—¾′ thick, furrowed and divided into parallel ridges, the red-brown surface broken into short thick scales.
Distribution. Sandy woods near Bluffton, Beaufort County, and in the neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina, and on Colonel’s Island near the mouth of the North Newport and Medway Rivers, near Dunham, Liberty County, Georgia.