Tree · Tiliaceae
American basswood
Tilia americana · includes its varieties and subspecies
American basswood is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,450 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
American basswood at a glance
- Native in
- 1,450 counties, across 37 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b PLANTS minimum temperature −46°F
- Mature height
- 100 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 2b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −46°F; zone 2b winters bottom out at −45°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
American basswood is recorded as native to 37 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,450 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,450 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 46 counties
- Arkansas 62 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 31 counties
- Georgia 37 counties
- Illinois 94 counties
- Indiana 80 counties
- Iowa 20 counties
- Kansas 30 counties
- Kentucky 90 counties
- Louisiana 39 counties
- Maine 16 counties
- Massachusetts 12 counties
- Michigan 72 counties
- Minnesota 65 counties
- Mississippi 19 counties
- Missouri 108 counties
- Nebraska 22 counties
- New Hampshire 10 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New York 41 counties
- North Carolina 44 counties
- North Dakota 12 counties
- Ohio 87 counties
- Oklahoma 4 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 24 counties
- South Dakota 11 counties
- Tennessee 55 counties
- Texas 29 counties
- Vermont 12 counties
- Virginia 71 counties
- West Virginia 48 counties
- Wisconsin 68 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Tree
- Duration
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 100 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 21 to 80 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse and medium
- pH range
- 4.5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Low
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 30 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −46°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 2b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 80
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- Yes
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Tiliaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- TIAM
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Tilia americana (PLANTS symbol TIAM), including 3 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources