CHAP. XVI II. 



S67 



named T. europae^a mbicaulis, which is said to be quite different from T". 

 europaj^a rubra. There can be no doubt that where several of the varieties 

 are growing together, and ripen seeds, these seeds will produce different 

 new sorts, as the result of cross-fecundation. In a work published in ] 750 

 at Leyden, entitled Les Agremens de la Campagne, ^c, the author recom- 

 mends continuing all the different sorts of the lime by layers : because, says 

 he, those which are raised from seed come up of different species ; and 

 almost all hybrids, such as the poplar-leaved lime, or the birch-leaved 

 lime, which never arrive at the size of large trees, or become finely fur- 

 nished with leaves. Those which come up with red bark, he saj's, grow 

 very rapidly for a while, as do the yellow-barked varieties, but neither do 

 they ever form large trees. The only seedhngs that should be planted, with 

 a view to this end, are such as have green leaves and shoots, (p. 207.) 

 Geography of T. europcB'a and its Varieties. T. europee'^a appears to be 

 confined to the middle and north of Europe. The variety T. e. platyphylla is 

 found on the Alps of Switzerland, and the north of Italy ; and also in Spain, 

 Portugal, and Greece. T. europse'a and T. microphylla appear to be in- 

 digenous chiefly in the north of Germany, in Russia, and in Sweden. We 

 have already (p, 24.) expressed our doubts as to the genus Tilia being indi- 

 genous in Britahi ; though, as Sir J. E. Smith has observed, all the varieties 

 (species with Mm) are naturalised, if not all originally indigenous, Ray 

 seems to have thought that T. e. microphylla was, or might be, indigenous ; 

 but he was of a different opinion with respect to the broad-leaved variety. 

 He says, speaking of the latter kind, " I think that Turner and Gerard 

 err in saying that this kind grows plentifully in Essex ; for,_ although I 

 am an inhabitant of Essex, I have never seen the rilia fce'mina vulgaris 

 platyphyllos [which, according to Smith, is a synonyme of T. europiE'a 

 {Bng. Flora)] growing spontaneously there, or elsewhere in England. 

 What we frequently find with us, in woods and hedges," he says, " is the 

 Tilia minore folio " [which, according to Smith, is a synonyme of T. parvi- 

 folia. (Eng. Flora.)]. " This last species," Ray continues, " is called in 

 Lincolnshire, by the rustics, bast ; because ropes are made from its bark. 

 It flowers later than the other, and ripens its seeds more perfectly." Sir 

 J. E. Smith gives as a native habitat of T. europse'a, " woods and hedges 

 upon grassy declivities:" of 7". e. platyphylla, " Whitstable, Surrey; and 

 near Dorking ; on the banks of the Mole, near Boxhill ; and a few other 

 places in Surrey, Norfolk, and Oxfordshire." According to Watson, T, 

 europ^^a is common all over Britain ; and in the south-western, north-eastern, 

 and north-western counties of Ireland: T. e. platyphylla is found in the 

 north-eastern parts of England, and in the southern counties of Scotland : 

 and T. e. microphylla is found in the south-eastern and north-eastern counties 

 of England, and north-western counties of Scotland. INIr. Edwin Lees, 

 Hon. Sec. of the Natural History Society of Worcester, informs us that at 

 Shawley, eight miles north-west of Worcester, there is a wood, remote from 

 any old dwelling or public road, of above 500 acres in extent, the greater part 

 of the undergrowths of which is composed of T. e. microphylla. _ He also 

 states that, in the same part of the countj^, there are some trees estimated to 

 be upwards of 300 years old. So extensive a tract in Britain covered with 

 the lime tree, we had before never heard of, and the circumstance has con- 

 siderably diminished om- doubts as to the tree being truly indigenous. In the 

 Notiveau Du Ramel, T. europae'a is said to be found wild in Denmark, Sweden, 

 Bohemia, and throughout Europe generally. Pallas states that it is found 

 through the whole of Russia, and great part of Siberia. T. e. platyphylla 

 is said to inhabit Sweden, and most parts of Europe, as fai- south as the 

 alpine regions of Spain. 



History. The common lime tree appears to have been known to the 

 Greeks and Romans. The tree, according to Theophrastus, is of both sexes, 

 which are totally different as to form ; probably referring to the smalUleaved 



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