88 THE TIME FAMILY. ^TUia. 



long-lived tree, attaining sometimes as much as 120 feet.in height, but 

 generally not above half that size. Leaves stalked, broadly heart- 

 shaped or nearly orbicular, often oblique, and always pointed, serrate 

 on the edge, glabrous above and more or less downy underneath, espe- 

 cially in the angles of the principal veins. Peduncles hanging amongst 

 the leaves, bordered or winged half-way up by the long, narrow, leaf- 

 like bract. Flowers sweet-scented , of a pale whitish-green. Not downy 

 when young, but often glabrous when ripe. 



In woods, over nearly the whole of Europe, except the extreme north, 

 and extending eastward across Russian Asia to the Altai. Much planted 

 in Britain, and probably truly wild in southern and western England. 

 Fl. summer. It varies much in the size of the leaves, in the degree of 

 down on their under surface and on the fruits, in the greater or less 

 prominence of the 5 filiform ribs of the fruit, &c. The truly indigenous 

 form in northern Europe is always a small-leaved one. The large- 

 leaved' variety which we commonly plant (T. grandtfolia, Ehrh.) is of 

 south European origin, with the leaves still further enlarged by culti- 

 vation. [The Limes are very puzzling, and no two authors are agreed 

 as to their specific limits. The only certainly indigenous British one is 

 T. cordata, Mill, (parvifolia, Ehrh.), with glabrous twigs, small leaves 

 glaucous beneath, and downy crustaceous globose or ellipsoid faintly 

 ribbed fruit. Then there is the possibly indigenous T. platyphyllos, Scop. 

 ( T. grandifolia, Ehrh. ), with hairy twigs, leaves large and downy beneath, 

 and obovoid or globose fruit with prominent ribs, said to be a native of 

 West England. Lastly the T. vulgaris, Hayne (T. intermedia, DC.), com- 

 monly planted, with glabrous twigs, leaves pubescent in the axils of the 

 nerves beneath, and a woody pubescent fruit, not ribbed when ripe.] 



XX. GERANIACEJE. THE GERANIUM FAMILY. 



Annual or perennial herbs, or, in exotic species, low shrubs, 

 with opposite or rarely alternate leaves, usually more or less 

 iivided or compound, toothed, and furnished with stipules. 

 Flowers regular in the principal British genera, irregular in 

 Impatiens and some exotic ones. Sepals in the regular flowers 

 5, overlapping in the bud. Petals 5, twisted in the bud. 

 Stamens 5 to 10, often united at the base. Ovary 5-lobed 

 and 5-celled, with one or several seeds in each, all attached to 

 the central axis. Styles 5. Fruit 5-lobed, the carpels opening 

 or partially falling off when ripe, leaving a central persistent 

 axis. In the genera with irregular flowers these characters are 

 much modified. (See Impatiens.) 



OeraniacecB resemble Caryophyllaccce and Malracece in the twisted 

 a rrangement of their petals, but differ from the former in foliage as 

 well as in fruit, and from the latter in the definite stamens. The 

 S] iccies are distributed nearly all over the globe, but most numerous in 

 the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, and more especially 

 in south-western Africa. The limits of the Order are $s yet scarcely 



