133 WAYSIDE AND WOODLAND BLOSSOMS. 



Small-leaved Lime (Tilia parvifoKa). 



Several species of Lime may be met in woods and planta- 

 tions, but respecting the right of each to be called indigenous 

 there is a good deal of difference of opinion among authorities. 

 Some say the present species is a native and the Large-leaved 

 Lime (T. platyphyllos) not ; others reverse this verdict and 

 say that platyphyllos is certainly native, but that parvifolia is 

 doubtfully so. There is little difference, other than the size of 

 the leaves, between the two. Both are trees of sixty feet and 

 upwards. The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped and toothed, 

 lop-sided at the base, and about two and a half inches across 

 in parvifolia^ compared with four inches in platyphyllos. In 

 July and August the Small-leaved Lime puts forth her yellowy- 

 green blossoms arranged in cymes, the long stalk of which is 

 furnished with a long pale-coloured bract. The flowers 

 consist of five sepals, five petals, a great number of stamens, a 

 five celled globular ovary with simple style and a five-toothed 

 stigma. Only one of the cells matures its two ovules, so that 

 the fruit is two-seeded. The flowers are sweet-scented, and 

 very rich in honey. 



The generic name, Tilia, is that by which the Romans knew 

 the tree. 



Tree Of the Gods (AiLmtus glandulosd). 



This elegant shade-tree was introduced from North China in 

 1751, and brought its name with it Ailanto, or Tree of the 

 Gods. It has, however, been better appreciated in France and 

 Italy than in this country. It grows to a height of fifty or 

 sixty feet. The leaves are compound, pinnate, a fact that 

 might easily be overlooked, for the whole leaf is so large 

 sometimes as much as six feet in length that its stalk and 

 mid-rib might well be mistaken for a branch clothed with 



