Tilia 1 67 1 



trees of Ti/m platyphyllos, but these do not belong exactly to forest trees, having 

 certainly been planted either by one of the Priors of Little Malvern or some of his 

 lay successors to the Priory lands." 



A very large lime formerly grew in Hagley Park, Worcestershire, the seat of 

 Lord Cobham, which, according to Lees,^ in 1874 measured 27 ft. in girth at 3 ft. 

 from the ground, but this I am told was blown down about twenty-five years ago. 

 At Arley Castle there is a fine tree, about 1 20 ft. high by 1 2 ft. 8 in. in girth. 



The most curious instance of artificial layering I have seen anywhere is at 

 Knole Park, where a lime described by Loudon as having covered nearly a quarter 

 of an acre in 1820 still grows. The central stem no doubt originally dropped its 

 branches on the ground in a circle of about 8 yards in diameter. These have grown 

 up into trees 80 ft. to 90 ft. high, some of which are thicker than their parent. 

 These again have layered themselves in a second concentric circle 20 yards in 

 diameter, the trees in which are 20 ft. to 40 ft. high, and these are now rooting their 

 outer branches in a third circle more irregular than the others, and 8 yards distant 

 from it, so that the total diameter of the group is 36 yards. All the stems are more 

 or less covered with spray, and the central one seems to have long ceased to grow. 



Strutt paid less attention to the lime than it deserves. He figures only two, 

 one of which, at Cobham, is in the same plate with a sycamore ; the other at Moor 

 Park, near Ricksmansworth, Herts. This stood at the end of a line of large limes, and 

 was a very wide-spreading tree, with a trunk \']\ ft. at three ft. from the ground, and 

 branches 120 yards in circumference. I am informed by Mr. Haynes, gardener at 

 Moor Park, that this tree was blown down in i860; but it is still alive, and some of 

 the branches have taken root in the ground and have sent up stems about forty-five 

 feet high. Within fifty yards of it another tree in the same row is now 2 1 ft. in girth. 



A similar case of a lime having been blown down and the branches taking root 

 occurs at Stratton Strawless. This tree, as Mr. Birkbeck tells me, was mentioned by 

 Sir T. Browne in the reign of Charles \. It was blown down in 1895 and lay till 

 1900, when the roots were covered with a mound of sand. When I saw it in 1909, 

 many branches were throwing up vigorous shoots, and the tree looked as if it might 

 live for centuries. Its trunk was about 12 ft. in girth. A very fine tall red-twigged 

 lime by the water at Gatton Park, in 1904, was 131 ft. by \2\ ft. A large spreading 

 tree, at Osberton Grange, Notts, is about 80 ft. high by 19 ft. in girth. 



At Dallam Tower, Westmoreland, there is an old lime in an exposed situation 

 in the park which measures no less than 22 ft. 3 in. in girth, though not over 65 ft. 

 in height ; and, as showing the influence of situation on trees, I may say that, in a 

 sheltered hollow close to the house at the same place, I measured a lime 128 ft. 

 high, double the height of the first, but only 7 ft. 8 in. in girth. 



There is a row of very large and apparently old limes at Hawsted, near Bury 

 St. Edmunds, in the same field, and probably planted at the same time as the 

 Oriental planes which we have described.^ The largest is about 105 ft. by 20 ft. 

 Another, whose trunk is covered with large burrs, is 16 ft. in girth. The leaves on 

 the shoots from the base of these trees vary considerably in size and shape. 



1 Card. Chron. i. 49 (1874). ^ Cf. Vol. III. pp. 621, 622. 



