24 FLOWERS OF THE WOODS AND COPSES 
Lime or Linden (Tilia vulgaris, Hayne) 
This tree has not been found fossil in Britain, but in the Pine and 
Oak Zones in S. Sweden. It is found in the North Temperate Zone 
in Europe and the Caucasus. The Common Lime, as is suggested by 
its absence from any deposits where fossil seeds and fruits have been 
discovered, as well as by its history, is not truly aboriginal, and its 
distribution is dependent upon planting. It is, however, well dispersed. 
Photo, B. Hanley 
LIME (7ilia vulgaris, L.) SHOWING DROOPING FOLIAGE 
The Common Lime has been requisitioned for forming plantations 
for many centuries, but was doubtless introduced here. Where it is 
not found forming plantations it is planted in and around gardens and 
in parks to create a landscape effect, and may be found in most country 
districts, as well as in towns, where it thrives, but it is often superseded 
by other species of Lime. 
The Lime has the tree habit. The trunk may exceptionally reach 
a height of 120 ft. The bole is thick. The branches are spreading, 
hanging down at the extremities. The twigs are hairless. The leaf 
buds are drooping at first; if horizontal, they would be more exposed to 
cold. The leaves are thin, membranous, light transparent green, twice 
as long as the leaf-stalks, rounded to heart-shaped, unequal at the base, 
hairless, except at the branching of the veins below where there are 
