Appearance

Growth form

A deciduous tree that can reach about 100 ft (30 m) in the wild. The gray bark develops irregular, scaly ridges with age.

Leaves

Leaves are 1.5–3 in (4–8 cm) long, nearly round with a long, narrow tip and a heart-shaped base. Each marginal tooth ends in a tiny bristle, and the pale undersides have reddish hair tufts where the veins meet.

Flowers

Drooping, widely branched clusters of 10–30 fragrant, pale yellow flowers hang from a narrow bract 1.5–4 in (4–10 cm) long. The flowers are pollinated mainly by insects.

Fruit

Small, oval nutlets about 1/4 in (5–8 mm) long, covered in reddish-brown hairs, with a thin, papery shell that crushes easily.

Look-alikes

Where it lives

Typical habitats

• Mixed forests
• Mountain slopes

Range

Native to northeastern China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning), North and South Korea, and the Russian Far East. In the US it is known only in cultivation, for example at the Arnold Arboretum (Massachusetts), the Morton Arboretum (Illinois), and the Hoyt Arboretum (Oregon).

Preferred conditions

Does best in deep, fertile soil.

Growing it

Care

Hardy to USDA Zone 3, and occasionally planted as a street tree in cold-climate cities. In Britain, trees grown from northern seed sources have been badly hit by late frosts because they leaf out early, while trees from South Korean seed leaf out later and do better.

Connected species

Close relatives

• American basswoodTilia americana

  North America's native linden, with much larger leaves; the name basswood comes from 'bast,' the tough inner-bark fiber that both trees share.

Conservation

IUCN Red List

LCLeast Concern·Low risk of extinction