The FRUIT, round yellow berries, ½ inch in diameter, and containing dark brown seeds, ripen in September and October and fall in the spring. The WOOD is heavy, strong, close-grained, light brown tinged with yellow. It splits easily into thin strips and is used for cotton basket and the frames of pack saddles. AMERICAN BASSWOOD (American Linden) Tilia americana L. Three species of basswood are reported to grow in Texas from the Arkansas line to the Brazos River and westward to Uvalde, Kerr and Bandera Counties, usually on rich, moist soils. They are rarely over 50 feet tall and 12 inches in diameter. The BARK is light brown and deeply furrowed. [Illustration: AMERICAN BASSWOOD (Leaf and fruit, one-third natural size; twig, one-half natural size)] The LEAVES are more or less heart-shaped, 3 to 6 inches long, thin, saw-toothed, smooth on both sides in some species, but woolly on the under surface of others. The fragrant FLOWERS, a favorite of bees, are yellowish-white, in drooping clusters opening in early summer, and the flower-stem is united to the middle of a long, narrow, leaf-like bract. The FRUIT, a dry, 1 to 2-seeded nut-like drupe, ¼ to ½ inch in diameter, is covered with short, thick, gray-brown wool. It remains attached in clusters to the leafy bract, which later acts as a wing to bear the fruit away in the wind. The WOOD is light, soft, tough, not durable, and light brown in color. It is used in states where the growth is better for the manufacture of pulp, woodenware, furniture, trunks, excelsior, and many other articles. The principal use of basswoods in Texas is for shade and ornament. DEVILS-WALKINGSTICK (Hercules-Club) Aralia spinosa L. This tree, a native of Northeast Texas, is armed from the ground up with many sharp spines, a characteristic that has given the tree many names such as Hercules-club, prickly-elder, and prickly-ash. The last name properly belongs to another tree. Devils-walkingstick possesses sufficient beauty to compensate for its spitefulness. The tree is usually small, but occasionally attains a height of 30 feet, the leaves forming a flat-topped, spreading crown. [Illustration: DEVILS-WALKINGSTICK (Branch, one-half natural size; leaf and fruit greatly reduced)] The brown BARK is divided by broad shallow fissures into circular, horizontal ridges. The sharp spines along its trunk best identify this tree. The LEAVES are doubly compounded, or bi-pinnate, the main rachis (leaf-stem) 3 or 4 feet long, clasping the stem with an enlarged base, and leaving conspicuous scars when they fall. The oval leaflets are toothed, pointed, dark green above and paler beneath. They turn yellow in autumn.