UO TILIACE^ 



as round as a tennis-ball, armed all over with strong spines, and regularly 

 divided into four cells, each containing a seed like a small chestnut. 



Lime {Tilia). — Sepals 5, soon falling off; petals 5, with or without a 

 scale at the base outside ; ovary 5-celled ; style 1 ; capsule 1 -celled, not 

 opening by valves, 2-seeded. Name of uncertain origin. 



The Lime, or Linden-tree {Tilia). 



1. Small-leaved Lime-tree {T. parvifdlia). — Leaves obliquely heart- 

 shaped, smooth on both sides, with the exception of small tufts of downy 

 hair on the under surfaces; flower-stalks springing from a leaf-like bract, 

 many-flowered ; capsule brittle. Plant perennial. This species has better 

 claims than Tilia vulgaris to be regarded as a native tree, though many 

 Avriters doubt if any Lime is truly indigenous. It grows in woods, in Essex, 

 Lincolnshire, Sussex, and other English counties, as well as in some parts of 

 Wales, bearing its yellowish-green flowers in July and August. 



2. Common Lime, or Linden-tree {T. vulgaris). — Leaves twice the 

 length of the foot-stalks, smooth on both sides, except a few tufts of downy 

 hair beneath ; branches and flower-stalks smooth ; nectaries none. Plant 

 perennial. This, though probably not a truly British tree, is very common 

 in our woods and hedgerows, and has been for some centuries planted in 

 avenues and parks. It is well fitted to lend its shadow to the public 

 promenade, for it bears the smoke of the city well, its only defect being, 

 that it is late in coming into leaf, and one of the first to shed its foliage, 

 looking sere and yellow long before the elm or beech is showing a tinge of 

 the autumnal brown. It is a favourite tree for avenues on the Continent, 

 and is largely planted in Holland and Germany. We owe some of our Lime- 

 walks, doubtless, to John Evelyn, who, in his " Sylva," recommended its 

 culture for this purpose. He describes trees growing in Switzerland, 

 Germany, and Himgary, as attaining an immense size ; and after referring to 

 the esteem in which the tree is held by the people of these countries, as it 

 was by the ancient Eomans, adds, " It is a shameful negligence that we are 

 no better provided with nurseries for a tree so choice, and so universally 

 acceptable." At that time there were no plantations of young Limes in 

 England, and our countrymen procured these plants from Holland and 

 Flanders. 



It is very pleasant to sit beneath a Lime-tree on a summer's evening in 

 July, when the green flowers are fully expanded ; for the odour, imper- 

 ceptible during day, becomes then most deliciously fragrant, and the green 

 shadow refreshes us, while the whispering of the soft airs among the well- 

 clad boughs gives gentle music. Linden-trees, even in our country, often 

 attain a considerable size, and they then become of a beautiful form, though 

 younger trees have usually a formal appearance. The flowers are very 

 profuse, and are so much prized by bees, that these insects keep up a 

 perpetual humming on a summer's day among the branches. In Lithuania, 

 near Kowno, where there are large forests of Limes, the honey is remarkable 

 for its excellence, and much valued for medicinal purposes, and as an 

 ingredient in liqueurs, Kowno honey being worth double the price of any 

 other. 



