Common Linden trees in our area:

 

 

American Linden:

 

• Deciduous tree, 60-80 ft (18-24 m), pyramidal when young, when mature lower branches droop down but tips ascend, rounded form.  Bark gray-brown, many long, narrow flat topped ridges.  Leaves alternate, simple, 12-15 cm long, thick, tip abrubtly acuminate, base cordate or truncate, margin coarsley serrate with long pointed teeth, glossy to dull dark green above, lighter below, 3-5 veins arising at the base, tufts of hair in axils of lateral veins; petiole 2.5-7.5 cm long.  Flowers pale yellow, 11-13 mm across, appear after leaves fully expanded, 5-10(15) per cluster, floral bract is 7-10 cm long.  Globose fruit, 8-12 mm across, without ridges, covered with gray-brown pubescence.

 

• Sun to part shade.  Best in deep, moist, fertile soil, but tolerates drier, heavier soils.

 

• Hardy to USDA Zone 3b      Native range covers much of eastern North America; from New Brunswick and Maine west to southern Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, and Manitoba; south to eastern North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma; east to northern Arkansas, Tennessee, western North Carolina, and New Jersey.

 

 

 

'Greenspire' Littleleaf Linden:

 

• Deciduous tree, 60-70 ft (18-21 m), pyramidal when young, then upright-oval to pyramidal-rounded.  Bark gray-brown.  Leaves alternate, simple, somewhat circular in outline, 4-10 cm long, cordate, finely serrated, somewhat glossy above, paler and glabrous beneath except for axillary tufts of brown hairs, fall color is yellow green.  Flowers produced in late June or early July, 5-7 per pendulous cluster, floral bract is 4-9 cm long.  Globose fruit, slightly or not ridged, covered with gray pubescence, finally glabrous.

 

• Sun. Tolerates pollution.  Used as a street tree for centuries.   Can be pruned into a hedge.  A number of cultivars.

 

• Hardy to USDA Zone (3) 4      Native to Europe.

 

 

 

 

Common problems with Linden trees:

 

 

Insects:

 

Aphids			Twospotted Spider Mite
Aphids feed by sucking up plant juices through a food channel in their beaks. At the same time, they inject saliva into the host. Light infestations are usually not harmful to plants, but higher infestations may result in leaf curl, wilting, stunting of shoot growth, and delay in production of flowers and fruit, as well as a general decline in plant vigor. Some aphids are also important vectors of plant diseases, transmitting pathogens in the feeding process. A sticky glaze of honeydew may collect on lower leaves, outdoor furniture, cars, and other objects below aphid feeding sites. Honeydew coated objects soon become covered by one or more brown fungi known as sooty molds. Crusts of sooty mold are unsightly on man-made objects, and they can interfere with photosynthesis in leaves. MORE INFO			The twospotted spider mite prefers the hot, dry weather of the summer and fall months, but may occur anytime during the year. Spider mites feed by penetrating the plant tissue with their mouthparts and are found primarily on the underside of the leaf. All spider mites spin fine strands of webbing on the host plant — hence their name. For detection of spider mites, a 10X to 15X magnifying glass is a necessity. MORE INFO
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Diseases:

 

Wetwood (slime flux)
Bacterial wetwood, also called slime flux, is a major bole rot of trunk and branches of trees. Slime flux has been attributed to bacterial infection in the inner sapwood and outer heartwood area of the tree. A tree with slime flux is water-soaked and "weeps" from visible wounds and even from healthy looking bark. The "weeping" may be a good thing as it is having a slow, natural draining effect on a bacterium that needs a dark, damp environment. A tree with this bole rot is trying its best to compartmentalize the damage. MORE INFO
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