Today, it is a universal American city and town tree. Known to grow as high as 124 feet, basswood usually grows to 50 to 80 feet high with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet. The National Register of Big Trees identifies today's largest basswood as growing in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and it stands 94 feet high with a trunk circumference of 292 inches and a crown spread of 91 feet. The wood of the basswood tree is lightweight and fairly soft, but is a true hardwood. The sapwood is creamy white and merges so gradually with its pale brown heartwood that it is difficult to tell the difference.
Shrinkage is great when it is first cut but after seasoning it is very stable.
Basswood boards never twist, split, or warp in use. It glues very well and is famous for its carvability. The combined softness of the wood with the regularity of its fine grain has made basswood the wood of choice for wood-carvers throughout the centuries. The undisputed master of woodcarving is Grinling Gibbons who worked in London from 1670 to 1710. As premier decorative furniture and interior panel carvers, Gibbons and his followers worked exclusively in basswood.