Old Linden Lies Down

This tree is right up the street from where I live. I believe it is a Basswood. The base of the trunk is covered with shoots and the core is rotten. It is funny how so many big trees can come down and there still seems to be no shortage of them. I know it is a Basswood because I walked under it on my way to Millbrook Market so many times. Tilia americana or linden or basswood, in England they are known as lime trees. The wood is good for carving and it supposedly has medicinal as well as symbolic properties. The Cherokee used the inner bark as a treatment for dysentary among other ailments. It is a common shade tree planted along roadways.