American Basswood Tree Seeds | American Linden | (Tilia americana)

The most fragrant native tree in the East. The best honey tree in North America.

Tilia americana, the American Basswood or American Linden, produces what beekeepers consider the finest and most valuable honey of any tree in North America, its small, intensely fragrant yellowish-white flowers producing nectar in such quantities and over such a consistent period in early summer that a strong colony near a blooming basswood stand can fill supers faster than at almost any other time of year. The flowers, which hang in clusters on distinctive wing-like bracts, fill the surrounding air with a honey-sweet fragrance that carries for hundreds of feet and is one of the most reliably pleasant natural fragrances in the temperate forest. The tree grows fast, develops a massive canopy, and provides some of the softest, most easily worked hardwood available in eastern North America. If you are looking to buy American Basswood seeds or grow this native linden from seed, this is the most important honey tree in eastern North American horticulture and one of the finest native shade trees available.

• Produces the most prized native honey in North America, basswood honey considered a benchmark for quality
• Intensely fragrant small flowers in early summer carrying for hundreds of feet on warm air
• Fast-growing native shade tree developing a massive canopy within decades
• Produces the softest and most easily carved hardwood of any major eastern native tree
• Critical pollinator tree, flowers supporting extraordinary numbers of native bees and honeybees

Things you probably did not know about the American Basswood

Basswood honey is the benchmark honey used by professional tasters and competition judges in North America. The flavor profile of pure basswood honey, clean, strongly floral, with a distinctive fresh grass or minty undertone, is considered the reference standard for evaluating other honey flavors by the American Honey Tasting Society and competition judges. Its clarity, light color, and distinctive taste make it immediately identifiable to experienced honey tasters.

The wood is the primary material for professional wood carving and decoy carving. American Basswood is the softest major hardwood available in the eastern United States, with a fine, even grain that accepts carving tools cleanly and holds detail well. It is the standard material for professional caricature carvers, relief carvers, and the decoy carving tradition of the Chesapeake Bay region where hand-carved wooden duck decoys have been produced for over a century. No other native hardwood combines the softness and carving quality of basswood.

The inner bark, called bast, was used by Indigenous peoples for fiber and rope. The fibrous inner bark of American Basswood was processed by Indigenous peoples across the Great Lakes and Northeast into rope, twine, and woven items. The word basswood derives from bast, the inner bark fiber, and the quality and workability of basswood bast was considered among the best of any native tree for fiber production. Some Indigenous textile traditions used basswood bast for clothing, bags, and mats.

The flowers are edible and have been used in European herbal tradition for centuries. The flowers and bracts of Tilia species have been used in European herbal medicine and cuisine for centuries, most commonly as a soothing tea used for anxiety, insomnia, and respiratory conditions. American Basswood flowers can be used in the same way. Linden blossom tea, called tilleul in French, is one of the most widely consumed herbal teas in France, where it is sold in every pharmacy and grocery store.

Growing Details

• Botanical Name: Tilia americana
• Stratification: Required, warm stratification of 90 days followed by 90 days cold stratification
• USDA Zones: 2 to 8
• Soil: Moist, well-drained, slightly acidic to neutral, prefers rich soil
• Light: Full sun to partial shade
• Height: 60 to 80 feet
• Spread: 30 to 50 feet
• Growth Rate: Moderate to fast, 1.5 to 2.5 feet per year

Plant it near a beehive if you have one, near a bench if you do not. In June when it blooms, the fragrance will bring you outside without intending to go.