The leaves of this tree are larger than those of the other Lindens, and as 
they are silvery white on the lower surface and hang on long slender 
stalks the slightest breeze makes them turn first one surface and then 
the other to the eye. This hardy and beautiful tree appears to be rarely 
cultivated. 
All the European Lindens succeed in the eastern states where they 
have been more generally planted than the American species and where 
there are large and old specimens of some of the species in the neighbor- 
hood of the seaboard cities. There are five European Lindens and it is 
among these and their hybrids that exists the greatest confusion in the 
minds of the cultivators of these trees. Probably the most widely dis- 
tributed of the European species, especially in the south, is Tilia platy- 
phyllos. This tree may be recognized by the yellow tinge of the leaves 
and the thick covering of short hairs on their lower surface and on their 
stalks, and by the prominent ribs of the fruit. This is the earliest of all 
Linden trees to flower here, the flowers having been fading for the last 
ten days, and it is this tree which now appears to be most commonly sold 
in American nurseries as the European Linden. There are varieties with 
leaves larger than those of the type (var. grandifolia), with erect branches 
forming a broad pyramidal head (var. pyramidata) , and with variously 
divided leaves (var. lanceolata and vitifolia). 
A more beautiful tree is Tilia cordata, the common Linden of northern 
Europe where it sometimes grows to a very large size, the old historic 
Lindens of the northern and central parts of the continent being usually 
of this species. This tree is distinguished by its small, thin, more or less 
heart-shaped leaves which are pale on the lower surface and furnished 
with conspicuous tufts of rusty brown hairs in the axils of the principal 
veins. It appears to have been little planted in the United States, and 
in the neighborhood of Boston it is the rarest of the Lindens of western 
Europe. It is, however, a hardy and desirable tree especially valuable 
on account of its late flowers which supply the bees with food after those 
of all other Lindens have passed. There is a large-leaved form of this 
tree (var. cordifolia) from western Europe in the collection which is a 
handsome and vigorous plant of much promise. This is sometimes sold 
in European nurseries as T. europaea or vulgaris. 
The third European Linden, called variously T. vulgaris , T. europaea , 
T. intermedia and T. hybrida , is considered by some of the best obser- 
vers of European trees a natural hybrid between T. platyphyllos and T. 
cordata. Although widely distributed in Europe, it appears to be much 
less common than either of its supposed parents, and the variation in 
the size, shape and color of the leaves make its hybrid origin possible. 
On some individuals the lower surface of the leaves is quite green and 
on others it is bluish or even whitish, but leaves on different parts of 
the same branch differ in this respect and on shoots produced from the 
bases of old trees the large leaves are quite green. T. vulgaris is a 
fine round-headed tree with rather small somewhat pendulous branches, 
and it appears to have been more often planted in the neighborhood of 
Boston than any other Linden. There are a number of large specimens 
in front of an old house on Centre Street near Orchard Street, Jamaica 
Plain, and in Olmsted Park. The flowers of this tree are now fading, 
so in its flowering time it is intermediate between its two supposed 
parents. There is another supposed hybrid of the same parentage and 
a native of Hungary, known as T. vulgaris var. pallida. This tree has 
larger leaves pale on the lower surface, and in habit and general ap- 
pearance resembles T. platyphyllos more than the commoner forms of 
