American Linden
AMERICAN LINDEN
(Tilia glabra)
Shape round-topped, symmetrical, to 130 ft. tall. Bark brownish gray and fissured, the ridges braiding. Twigs slender, smooth, ruddy. Leaves smooth but for hairy tufts on the veins beneath, turning yellow in autumn. Range: N.B. through the Gt. Lakes region and southw. to Tex., s. to Ga. on the mts. This stately tree, also called Basswood, Lime-tree and Whitewood, is a favorite with the bees on account of its honey scented flowers in May and June. They perfume the air for many yards around. DOWNY BASSWOOD (Tilia Michauxii) has smaller leaves with dense gray down on the under surface. A small, straggling tree, from Long Island to n. Fla. and Tex. WHITE BASSWOOD (Tilia heterophylla) has very large, unsymmetrical leaves, the undersides silvery downy. Appalachians from s. N. Y. to Ala. and w. to s. Ill.
Black Gum
BLACK GUM
(Nyssa sylvatica)
Bark light brown tinged with red or dark brown or nearly black, smooth even in old age or sometimes becoming deeply furrowed. Branches short, with spur-like short twigs. Leaves thick, shining, turning a brilliant maroon brown in autumn. Berry solitary or twin. Range: Me. to Fla. and Tex., w. to n. Ind. and Mo. This curious tree, which inhabits the lower slopes of the s. Appalachians as well as swamps and savannahs near the coast, is often hollow in old age, a favorite hide-out of raccoon and opossum. TUPELO (Nyssa aquatica) is a swamp tree with the same range as Bald Cypress, and, like it, has usually a much swollen butt and very spongy great roots. It differs from the preceding in the thicker twigs, larger leaves, and blue, not purple-black, fruit.
Eastern Dogwood