Lime; Linden

Lime; Linden (Tilia) - Mostly summer-leafing trees of northern and temperate regions, often cut into ugly shapes in continental gardens. By far the best effect of the tree is when it is allowed to take its natural shape, and its fragrance is often welcome on the lawn. The "pleached" alleys of old English gardens were often made of this tree, but these are much easier got now from various trees of better color and leaf, such as the fine-leaved Acacias or graceful fruit trees like the Japanese and other crabs, which, while giving us the shade we seek, give flowers in season. Some of the Limes are very handsome trees, hardy, fine in form and leaf, and good on the lawn or in grove, but, as few places have space enough to represent all the trees of this genus, the best way is to make a selection of the stateliest and best. There is some talk now of hybridising forest trees, which, considering the beautiful ones we already have, seems no very necessary mode of research; also, variegated and mean types of the tree should be avoided, and especially grafted trees. Some of the rarer kinds are grafted on the common one.

Tilia L. - basswood

Tilia americana L. - American basswood

Tilia americana L. - American basswood

Basswood (Tilia Americana) - A vigorous round-headed tree covered with ruddy bark, the leaves larger, more pointed, and of darker green than in the Common Lime, while the flower bracts are also larger and come about ten days later, giving place to yellow pea-like fruits. The tree is spreading and needs space, and it bears drought better than the Limes of Europe.

Crimean Lime (Tilia Dasystyla) - A handsome tree from S. Russia, with lustrous dark-green leaves on bright-green twigs, lasting fresh longer than on the Common Lime. The young growths give pretty tints of red and yellow, and the pale flowers come early in August.

Weeping White L. (Tilia Petiolaris) - Though the silvery effect of this tree is fully as beautiful as that of the White Lime, it is very different in habit, every shoot drooping gracefully, while the leaf-stalks are fully twice as long as in T. argentea. It is a strong grower even on poor soils, reaching a height of 60 feet or more, and resisting drought; the flowers large, in July. The leaves are large, rounded, and so twisted as to show the hoary underside even in repose. S. Russia.

Broad-leaved L. (Tilia Platyphyllos) - A variable tree, attaining at maturity a height of 90 feet, with dense ample leaves, sometimes downy on both sides and always underneath. It is the first of the Limes to bloom, the flowers coming in June and followed by hairy thick-celled capsules. The effect of this stately tree is marred by its early loss of leaf, especially in a dry season. There are many varieties, including pyramidalis, of erect habit; rubra and aurea, with red or yellow bark; asplenifolia and laciniata, dwarf trees with cut leaves; and vitifolia, in which they are lobed like a Vine.

Common L. (Tilia Vulgaris) - Not a native of Britain, though freely naturalised. The Lime seldom sows itself in this country, but no tree is more easily increased by layers.

Two or three new Limes have come from E. Asia, and are coming into cultivation. These are T. mandschurica, which, in its own land, makes a spreading tree of 50 to 60 feet, of pendulous habit. From nearly the same region comes T. mongolica, a slender low-growing tree of graceful appearance, with very small rounded or three-lobed leaves. Perhaps the finest of the entire genus is T. miqueliana, from the forests of Japan, where it reaches a height of 100 feet. There are also an increasing number of hybrid Limes, some of which promise to be of value.

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