X. tilia'ce^ : n'LiA. 67 



ragged ill-looking plant that we deem it altogether unworthy of culture. 

 Host, in his Flora Anstriaca, has the following names, which he considers as 

 species : T. z^itifolia ; cor} lifolia ; grandifolia Sm. ; corallina, syn. europae^a 

 Hook. Lond. ; mutabilis ; late bracte;\ta ; praeVox ; pyramidalis ; inter- 

 media ; tenuifolia; obliqua; europse^a iS'm. ; parvifolia Sm.; argentea, syn. 

 alba JVa/dd. et Kit. Icon. t. 3. {Fl. Aiis., vol. ii. p. 5963.) 

 The wood of the lime tree is of a pale yellow or white, close-grained, soft, 

 light, and smooth, and not attacked by insects. It weighs, per cubic foot, 

 when green, 55 lb. ; half-dry, 45 lb. ; and dry, 37 lb. ; and it loses a third 

 part of its weight, and a fourth part of its bulk, by drying. {Baudrill.) It is 

 used by pianoforte-makers for .sounding-boards, and by cabinet-makers for a 

 variety of purposes. It is carved into toys, and turned into domestic utensils 

 of various kinds, and into small boxes for the apothecaries. The most elegant 

 use to which it is applied is for ornamental carving, for which it is superior to 

 every other wood. This wood is said to make excellent charcoal for gun- 

 powder ; even better than alder, and nearly as good as hazel. Baskets and 

 cradles were formerly made from the twigs ; and shoemakers and glovers are 

 said to prefer planks of lime tree for cutting the finer kinds of leather upon. 

 The leaves of the lime tree, in common with those of the elm and the poplar, 

 were used, both in a dried and in a green state, for feeding cattle, by the Ro- 

 mans ; and they are still collected for the same purpose in Sweden, Norway, 

 Carniola, and Switzerland. One of the most important uses of the lime tree, 

 in the North of Europe, is that of supplying material for ropes and bast 

 mats ; the latter of which enter extensively into European commerce. The 

 Russian peasants weave the bark of the young shoots for the upper parts of 

 their shoes, the outer bark serves for the soles ; and they also make of it, 

 tied together with strips of the inner bark, baskets and boxes for domestic 

 purposes. The outer bark of old trees supplies them, like that of the birch, 

 with tiles for covering their cottages. Ropes are still made from the bark of 

 the tree in Cornwall, and in some parts of Devonshire. The fishermen of 

 Sweden make nets for catching fish of the fibres of the inner bark, separated, 

 by maceration, so as to form a kind of flax ; and the shepherds of Carniola 

 weave a coarse cloth of it, which serves them for .heir ordinary clothing. The 

 sap of the lime tree, drawn off in spring, and evaporated, affords a considerable 

 quantity of sugar. The honey produced by the flowers is considered superior 

 to all other kinds for its delicacy. London and Wise recommended the lime 

 tree, as preferable to the elm, for sheltering gardens or orchards ; because the 

 roots do not, like those of the elm, spread out and impoverish all around them. 

 A deep and rather light soil is recommended ; but the largest trees are ge- 

 nerally found in a good loamy soil. In dry situations, the lime never attains 

 a large size, and it loses its leaves earlier than any other tree. Being a tree 

 of the plains, rather than of the mountains, it doe? not appear suitable for ex- 

 posed surfaces : but it requires a pure air rather than otherwise ; for, though, 

 it is found in towns on tiic Continent, and sparingly so in Britain, the smoke 

 of mineral coal seems more injurious to it than it is to the platanus, the elm 

 or some other trees. It is seldom propagated otherwise than by layers, which 

 are made in the nurseries in autumn and winter ; and which become rooted, 

 so as to admit of being taken off, in a year. The tree in Britain appears sel- 

 dom to ripen its seeds. 



1 2. T. (eur.) a'lba Waldst. 8^ Kit. The white-leaved European Lime Tree. 



Identification. Waldst. and Kit. PI. Hung.; Don's Mill. 1. p. ."^53. 



Synonymes. T. americana T)u Roi ; T. argentea Dcsf., Dec. Cat. Hort. Monsp., and Dec. Prod. 1. 



p. 513.; T. rotundifblia Vent, and A^. Du Ham. ; T. tomentbsa ilcencli. 

 Engravings. Waldst. and Kit. PI. Hung., l.t. 3. ; Wats. Dend., t. 71.; the plate in Arb. Brit., 1st 



edit, vol. V. ; and our fig. 102. 



Spec. Char., S^c. Petals each with a scale at the base inside. Leaves cordate, 

 somewhat acuminated, and rather unequal at the base, serrated, clothed with 

 white down beneath, but smooth above, 4 times longer than the petioles. 

 Fruit ovate, with 5 obscure ribs. (Doll's Milt.) Fruit evidently ribbed. 



F 2 



