THE LIME. 37 
ninety feet above, is quite another matter. Such a tree is a 
thing of beauty, and one can stand long at its base looking up 
among the wide-spreading limbs so well clothed with leaves of 
fine texture and tint. The girth of such a specimen at four feet 
from the ground would be about fifteen feet. Larger individuals 
have been recorded, up to twenty-seven feet. 
There are three kinds of Lime in general cultivation in this 
country, but the differences between them are not great. They 
are the Large-leaved {Tilia platyphyllos), the Small-leaved 
(7'. parvi/olia), and the Intermediate or Common Lime (7’. 
vulgaris). The last-named is generally admitted to be an 
introduced kind, and it is the one most commonly planted. 
Respecting the claims of the other two to rank as natives, there 
has been some difference of opinion among authorities. The 
Small-leaved Lime, which does not occur in woods north of 
Cumberland, was regarded by Borrer as a true indigene, but H. C. 
Watson considered its claims as open to doubt, though he had 
no such doubt of the Large-leaved Lime, which is only growing 
really wild in the woods of Herefordshire, Radnorshire, and the 
West Riding of Yorkshire. 
All our Limes have similar straight tall stems, clad in smooth 
bark, and with a similar habit of growth. They are trees that 
demand genial climatic conditions for their proper development, 
and in consequence they do not put forth their leaves until May. 
The period of their leafy glory is comparatively short, for they 
are among the trees that lose their leaves earliest in autumn, after 
having been for a few days transmuted into gold. The leaf of 
the Lime is heart-shaped, with one of the basal lobes larger 
than the other, and the edges cut into saw-like teeth. There 
are slight differences in those of the three species, which will be 
indicated below. 
In its rioral arrangements the Lime differs from the trees 
previously mentioned in that it has distinct sepals and petals, 
an abundance of honey, and strong, sweet fragrance as of 
