littleleaf linden Tiliaceae Tilia cordata Mill.   symbol: TICO2
	Leaf: Alternate, simple, ovate to cordate, 2 to 4 inches long, with serrate margins, pinnately veined, inequilateral base, green above and paler below. Flower: Monoecious; pale yellow, borne below a long, gracefully curving leafy wing in a many branched cluster, several inches long, appearing in early to mid-summer. Fruit: A round, conspicuously 4-ribbed nutlet (1/4 inch) that is covered with gray-brown hair; occur in a hanging cluster with a curving, leafy bract acting as a wing on top of the cluster, ripening in the fall. Twig: Slender, zigzag, green-brown or red-tinged (particularly in the winter); terminal bud is false, buds are plump with one side bulging conspicuously, edible and when eaten they are mucilaginous. Bark: Gray or brown, ridged with shallow furrows; young stems are brown and soon become ridged. The bark is quite fibrous. Form: A small to medium tree to 70 feet with a dense, round crown. In the U.S. it is typically only seen when open grown where it develops into a small tree as wide as it is tall.
	USDA Plants Database Tilia cordata is planted in the highlighted USDA hardiness zones to the left and may seed into the landscape. See a map of the states in which littleleaf linden has escaped (opens a new window).