EUROPEAN LIME-TREE. 41 
tree. This variety differs from the common broad-leaved lime in no other respect 
than in the yellow colour of its twigs. 
7. T. e. dasystyla. Hairy -styled European Lime-tree. This variety is de- 
scribed as having petals without scales ; leaves smooth, somewhat hairy at the 
base beneath ; axils of veins bearded ; style tomentose. 
8. T. e. alba, Loudon. White-leaved European Lime-tree, in England; Til- 
leul blanc, in France ; Weisse Linde, in Germany. Each of the petals of this 
variety has a scale at the base, inside ; the leaves are cordate, somewhat acumi- 
nated, and rather unequal at the base, serrated, clothed with white down be- 
neath, but smooth above, and four times longer than the petioles ; the fruit is 
ovate, with five obscure ribs. This tree is at once distinguishable from all other 
varieties by the white appearance of its foliage, even at a considerable distance, 
and by the strikingly snowy hue of its leaves, when ruffled by the wind. Its 
wood and shoots resemble those of the common lime ; but it does not attain the 
same height. There is a good specimen of this tree at Walton, upon the 
Thames, sixty feet high ; and several others at High Clere, in Berkshire, some 
of which, in forty years, have attained a height of upwards of sixty feet. 
9. T. e. alba petiolaris, Loudon. Lo?ig-petioled-leaved European Lime-tree. 
This tree is described by De Candolle from dried specimens, without flower or 
fruit, and is probably only a sub-variety of T. e. alba. 
There is another variety, with varigated leaves, but it is such a ragged, ill- 
looking plant, that it is not deemed worthy of culture. 
Geography and History. The Tilia europsea appears to be confined to the 
central and northern parts of Europe. It is found wild in northern Germany. 
Denmark, Sweden, Bohemia, and, according to Pallas, throughout the whole of 
Russia, and a great part of Siberia. According to Watson, it is common all over 
Britain, and in the south-western, north-eastern, and north-western counties of 
Ireland. The T. e. platyphylla is said to inhabit Sweden, and most parts of 
Europe, as far south as the Alpine regions of Switzerland, and Spain. The 
T. e. microphylla appears to be indigenous chiefly in the north of Germany, in 
Sweden, and Russia ; also in the south-eastern and north-eastern counties of Eng 
land, and north-western counties of Scotland. At Shawley, eight miles north- 
west from Worcester, England, there is a wood of about five hundred acres in 
extent, the greater part of the undergrowth of which, is of this variety. So 
extensive a tract in Britain, covered with the linden, strongly tends to prove 
that this tree is truly indigenous. It is said, however, that the lime seldom, if 
ever, ripens its seeds in England, which would operate unfavourably to its repro- 
duction. The T. e. alba is found in the woods in Hungary, where it is rare, 
and also near Constantinople, whence it was introduced into England in 1767, 
and planted at Mile End. 
The European lime-tree has long been cultivated for ornament and shade, 
both in the United States and in the British American provinces. 
The lime-tree appears to have been known to the Greeks and Romans. Theo- 
phrastus, Homer, Horace, Virgil, Columella, and Pliny mention it, and celebrate 
its bark and wood. According to Theophrastus, it is of both sexes, which are 
totally different as to form ; probably referring to the small-leaved and large- 
leaved varieties. The leaves, he says, are sweet, and are used as food for most 
kinds of cattle. This tree was highly esteemed by the Romans for its shade ; 
and, according to Pliny, for the numerous uses to which its wood might be applied. 
In modern times, the lime-tree was one of the first to attract the attention of 
dendrological writers previously to the time of Linnaeus, who describes only two 
species, Tilia europgea and americana. M. Ventenat, in 1798, described three 
European species, and three American ones ; and De Candolle has described ten. 
Evelyn, speaking of the lime-tree, says, " It is a shameful negligence that we are 
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