United States / Grow / basswood

basswood (Tilia spp.)
Photo: (c) Oleksandr Shynder, some rights reserved (CC BY) (CC BY), via iNaturalist. Species-typical, not necessarily this cultivar.

basswood

Tilia spp. (accepted: Tilia) · Malvaceae · all Tilia records · also called Linden · Wikipedia

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Basswood receives favorable plant-selection advice, alongside an explicit request for further research from FireSmart BC.

The BC chart includes Tilia species among its fire-resistant plants but marks them as needing more research. That flag belongs with the favorable listing. It prevents the chart's inclusion from sounding like a completed experimental assessment of every basswood tree.

Girona's provincial government and Catalonia's fire service give Tilia species their strongest garden-suitability verdict, “muy recomendada.” Their method assumes care suited to the species and considers maintenance, fuel structure, origin, invasiveness, fire literature, and fire-service experience together. This is a judgment about a fire-adapted garden, not a numerical measure of combustion alone.

The two sources support a favorable answer on limited evidence. They also explain its boundaries: Girona's recommendation depends on appropriate care, while FireSmart BC leaves a clear research qualification attached to the genus.

Form
tree
Rated in
British Columbia; Catalonia, Spain
On this lot

1. Fire evidence and conditions

Fire evidence
Fire-resistant — location does not change the cited classification.
Placement evidence
1 source placement record; source schemes remain separate.
Evidence regions
British Columbia; Catalonia, Spain

2. Why this plant is relevant here

State distribution
Documented in WA, OR, ID.

3. Legal, ecological, and broader status

How to read this page

The status above is computed from the cited rows below: independent recommendations can support a fire-resistant result, an avoid row can produce keep-away, and disagreement stays visible as conflict. Placement notes preserve each source’s own scheme rather than translating unlike rules into one scale. This is evidence about a plant, not permission to plant it in every part of the defensible space; Zone 0 remains noncombustible.

Where its sources say to plant it

Placement rules below use each source's own distances or named zones, tied to its rating. They are not interchangeable with the directory's current Zone 0 guidance.

The evidence

Grouped by what each source concluded. Primary evidence rated the plant itself (a lab, field program, or original curation); corroboration compiled or republished another source's rating and resolves to its root lineage.

Recommends (2)

Corroboration (1 rows from 1 source)

Last verified 2026-08-23. JSON (CC BY 4.0)

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Tilia spp. (Linden). FireApproved. https://fireapproved.com/plants/tilia/. Last verified 2026-08-23.