258 



THE LIME-TREE. 



TlLIA EUROP^EA. 



Natural Order TILIACEJE. 



Class POLYANDEIA. Order POLTGYKIA. 



THE Lime or Linden-tree was well-known to the Greeks 

 under the name of Philyra ; and the Romans, Pliny tells 

 us, held it in great repute for its "thousand uses." The 

 timber was employed in making agricultural implements, 

 and was also considered to be well-adapted for shields, as 

 it was said to deaden the blow of a weapon better than 

 any other kind of wood. Pliny states, also, that it was 

 not liable to be worm-eaten. The bark was a common 

 writing material, and when split into ribands was made 

 into head-dresses, which were worn on festive occasions. 

 In medicine its supposed virtues were very great; the 

 leaves and bark had a healing power, and decoctions of 

 various parts beautified the skin and promoted the growth 

 of the hair. The seed was said to be eaten by no animal. 

 Evelyn mentions that a book written on the inner bark of 

 the Lime " was brought to the Count of St. Amant, 

 governor of Arras, 1662, for which there were given eight 

 thousand ducats by the Emperor : it contained a work of 

 Cicero, Deordinandd Republicd, etde inrcniendis orationum 

 exordiis; a piece inestimable, but never published, and 

 now in the library at Vienna, after it had formerly been 

 the greatest rarity in that of the late Cardinal Mazarin." 



In the Middle Ages the same honours were paid to the 

 Lime-tree which belonged to the Poplar, a tree which 

 derived its name from being the emblem of popular free- 

 dom. During the struggles of the Swiss and Flemish to 

 recover their liberty, it was their custom to plant a Lime- 

 tree on the field of every battle that they gained over their 

 oppressors ; and some of these trees, particularly those 



