How to Identify Basswood Wood (Tilia americana)

Basswood, Tilia americana: color, grain, end grain, Janka hardness (410 lbf) and weight, and how to tell it from Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar), quoted from the USDA Wood Handbook and The Wood Database.

Download on the App Store

At a glance

Scientific name: Tilia americana
Type: Hardwood
Origin: Eastern North America
Color: Pale white to light brown color, with sapwood and heartwood not clearly defined.
Grain and texture: Grain is straight, with a fine, even texture and moderate natural luster.
End grain: Diffuse porous; pores predominantly in radial multiples/clusters of two to four, medium, very numerous; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates and banded; rays narrow to medium, normal spacing, noded.
Janka hardness: 410 lbf
Specific gravity (12% MC): 0.37
Other clue: No characteristic odor; among the softest and lightest domestic hardwoods, favored for hand carving.

What Basswood looks like

Pale white to light brown color, with sapwood and heartwood not clearly defined. Grain is straight, with a fine, even texture and moderate natural luster. End grain: Diffuse porous; pores predominantly in radial multiples/clusters of two to four, medium, very numerous; parenchyma diffuse-in-aggregates and banded; rays narrow to medium, normal spacing, noded.

Hardness and weight

Janka hardness 410 lbf (side hardness: the force needed to embed a 0.444-inch steel ball to half its diameter). Specific gravity 0.37 at 12% moisture content, so a cubic foot weighs roughly 23 lb. Weight in the hand is one of the quickest checks: compare a piece of known size against a board you already know.

Basswood vs Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar)

Basswood is softer and lighter than yellow-poplar (410 lbf vs 540 lbf) with a more uniform, colorless appearance (no gray/green streaks) and noded rays visible under magnification; poor nail-holding and steam-bending set it apart from denser look-alikes. The Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar) page has its own details.

Smell, weight and other clues

No characteristic odor; among the softest and lightest domestic hardwoods, favored for hand carving.

Where you will meet it

Carvings, lumber, musical instruments (electric guitar bodies), veneer, plywood, and wood pulp/fiber products.

Working it

Easy to work, being very soft and light; perhaps one of the most suitable species for hand carving; glues and finishes well but has poor steam-bending and nail-holding characteristics.

How to photograph it for identification

Photograph a freshly cut or sanded face in daylight, not a finished or stained surface, since stain hides color and finish flattens grain. Add a close-up of the end grain: cut a clean end, wet it or sand it to 220, and shoot from straight on; pore pattern and rays are the most reliable marks. Put a ruler in frame. The app suggests the likely species; confirm with the end grain and weight.

FAQ

How hard is Basswood?

Janka hardness 410 lbf. For comparison, Red Oak is about 1,290 lbf and Eastern White Pine about 380 lbf.

How do I tell Basswood from Yellow Poplar (Tulip Poplar)?

Is Basswood a hardwood or a softwood?

Basswood is a hardwood: it comes from a broadleaf tree. Hardwood and softwood describe the kind of tree, not how hard the wood is; some hardwoods are softer than some softwoods.

What color is Basswood?

Pale white to light brown color, with sapwood and heartwood not clearly defined.

Find out what tree that really is.

Start with a single photo.