MALVACEAE - - Mallow Family

Tilia heterophylla (Ventenat) Loudon — Mountain Basswood, White Basswood

Habitat:

Rich coves and mesic to dry slopes (the drier sites usually on limestone), often one of the most abundant trees in Southern Appalachian cove forests.

Habitat & Range information from:
Weakley, Alan S., Flora of the Southern and Mid-Atlantic States, Working Draft of 21 May 2015.

We will not be providing either a nationwide range map or a Georgia range map for Tilia. BONAP and UGA Herbarium only recognize Tilia americana and do NOT recognize all the species, varieties, or sub-species that are currently recognized by leading botanists. Therefore, their one range map which is labeled T. americana is polluted by including the two varieties listed below. Weakley (2015) currently recognizes T. americana var. americana, T. americana var. heterophylla, and T. americana var. caroliniana. I personally prefer to recognize these three taxa on the species level. In my opinion T. americana is either not found in GA or is confined to the mountains of extreme north Georgia. T. heterophylla is found in north and central (Piedmont) GA and is the common Basswood in northwest Georgia. T. caroliniana is confined to the Coastal Plain in GA.

Range from Weakley:

Centered in the Southern Appalachians: sw. PA and WV south to c. NC, wc. GA, FL Panhandle, and westward as disjunct populations to the Ozarkian Highlands of s. MO and n. AR. In VA, var. heterophylla dominates in sw. VA and along southern Piedmont river bluffs, with disjunct populations in calcareous ravines in the upper Coastal Plain (Surry County); it also extends less commonly into the northern VA mountains and foothills, where var. americana is more prevalent, but seems to be absent (or very uncommon) in the Potomac valley east of the Blue Ridge.