Tilia americana

The last few nights I have been enjoying going out and just sitting at our old picnic table, which is located in our yard underneath a beautiful, HUGE, old Basswood tree, which is the 'Tilia Americana'. The tree is blooming right now, and the blossoms on this tree are so wonderfully fragrant and pretty!!! We love standing outside and just enjoying the scent from the flowers on it.

One of our neighbors, a man in his late 80's - told us that the tree in our yard was measured by the County and our tree is the largest and oldest basswood tree in our county. If only trees could talk... I bet this one would have some stories to tell!

I looked it up on the this site, and found that Basswood has an interesting history. To quote: "Native Americans and settlers used the fibrous inner bark (bast) as a source of fiber for rope, mats, fish nets, and baskets. Basswood is still valued for its soft, light, easily worked wood, especially for turned items and hand carving. It once was the material of choice for prosthetic limbs, but these are now made from synthetics. Other uses have included boxes, toys, woodenware, drawing boards, veneer, venetian blinds, excelsior, and pulp. Native Americans used fresh basswood sap, which contains moderate amounts of sugar, as a watery drink or boiled it into syrup. They also ate young basswood leaves and used the cambium for soups and breads. Various medicinal uses were made of leaf and bark extracts, and Iroquois used freshly cut bark as an emergency bandage for wounds."

Here are a few pictures taken of the blossoms at night.