Tilia

Tilia species are mostly large, deciduous trees, reaching typically tall. As with elms, the exact number of species is uncertain, as many of the species can hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation. They are hermaphroditic, having perfect flowers with both male and female parts, pollinated by insects. The trunk is stout, with pale grey to brownish-grey bark, smooth at first, becoming coarsely fissured or scaly on older trees; the inner bark, called bast, is soft, but fibrous, with high tensile strength. The wood is white, fairly soft, with minimal wood grain, making it popular for wood carving (see #Wood below). The leaves of Tilia species are heart-shaped, and most are asymmetrical, with oblique-cordate (heart-shaped) leaves across, sometimes more, to 25 cm in the hybrid cultivar Tilia 'Moltkei'. In all species, the leaf margin is toothed, sometimes markedly so, with T. henryana having conspicuous long bristle-like teeth up to 4.4 mm long. All of the Tilia species may be propagated by cuttings and grafting, as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in rich soil, but are subject to damage by several insects. Tilia is notoriously difficult to propagate from seed unless collected fresh in autumn; if allowed to dry, the seeds go into deep dormancy and take 18 months to germinate. File:Tilia x europea-2.JPG|Trunk and leaves File:Tilia x cordata leaf underside.JPG|Leaf of common lime (Tilia × europaea) showing venation File:Tilia x cordata flower veination.JPG|The venation within a Tilia bract File:Lime tree.jpg|Tilia flowers File:Tilia cordata Owoce lipy 656.jpg|Tilia fruit File:Memmelsdorf Schloss Seehof Lindenallee-20231101-RM-115618.jpg|alt=Double row of trees with yellow leaves|Lime avenue in Germany in autumn File:15 year old lime-tree, Haute-Savoie, France.jpg|A 15-year-old lime-tree, Haute-Savoie, France File:Linde - Stockausschlag.jpg|A lime after coppicing, Vogelsberg Mountains == Taxonomy ==

, England Subdivision Species This list comprises the species accepted by the Plants of the World Online (POWO): • Tilia americana L. – American basswood, American linden • Tilia amurensis – Amur lime, Amur linden • Tilia callidonta • Tilia chinensis – Chinese lime or Chinese linden • Tilia chingiana Hu & W.C.Cheng • Tilia concinna • Tilia cordata Mill. – small-leaved lime • Tilia dasystyla Steven • Tilia endochrysea • Tilia henryana Szyszyl. – Henry's lime, Henry's linden • Tilia hyrcana – Hubei lime • Tilia japonica – Japanese lime, shina (when used as a laminate) • Tilia jiaodongensis • Tilia kiusiana • Tilia kueichouensis • Tilia likiangensis • Tilia mandshurica – Manchurian lime • Tilia maximowicziana • Tilia membranacea • Tilia mexicana • Tilia miqueliana • Tilia mongolica Maxim. – Mongolian lime, Mongolian linden • Tilia nobilis – noble lime • Tilia occidentalisibirica • Tilia oliveri – Oliver's lime • Tilia paucicostata • Tilia platyphyllos Scop. – large-leaved lime • Tilia sabetii • Tilia stellatopilosa • Tilia toboliensis • Tilia tomentosa Moench – silver lime • Tilia tuan Szyszyl. The following additional species have been accepted by some other sources: • Tilia caroliniana – Carolina basswood (included in T. americana by POWO; accepted by Pigott) and "linden", or "basswood" in North America./German Linde, plural Linden), cognate to Latin lentus "flexible" and Sanskrit latā "liana". Within Germanic languages, English "lithe" and Dutch/German lind for "lenient, yielding" are from the same root. "Linden" was originally the adjective, "made from linwood or lime-wood" (equivalent to "wooden" or "oaken"); from the late 16th century, "linden" was also used as a noun, probably influenced by translations of German romance, as an adoption of Linden, the plural of Linde in Dutch and German. Neither the name nor the tree is related to Citrus genus species and hybrids that go by the same name, such as Key limes (Citrus × aurantifolia). Another common name used in North America is basswood, derived from bast, the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below). Teil is an old name for the lime tree. == Ecology ==

on Tilia cordata'' s, caused by the mite Eriophyes tiliae Aphids are attracted by the rich supply of sap, and are in turn often "farmed" by ants for the production of the honeydew (an aphid waste product), which the ants collect for their own use, and the result can often be a dripping of excess sap onto the lower branches and leaves, and anything else below. Cars left under the trees can quickly become coated with a film of the syrup ("honeydew") thus dropped from higher up. The ant/aphid "farming" process does not appear to cause any serious damage to the trees. == Uses ==

Limes are widely used as ornamental trees when a mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired. The fashion was derived from the earlier practice of planting lindens in lines as shade trees in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France. Most of the trees used in British gardens were cultivars propagated by layering in the Netherlands. Wood by Tilman Riemenschneider, circa 1490 Linden trees produce soft and easily worked timber, which has very little grain and a density of 560 kg/m3. It was often used by Germanic tribes for constructing shields. It is a popular wood for model building and for intricate carving. Especially in Germany, it was the classic wood for sculpture from the Middle Ages onwards and is the material for the elaborate altarpieces of Veit Stoss, Tilman Riemenschneider, and many others. In England, it was the favoured medium of sculptor Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721). The wood is used in marionette- and puppet-making and -carving. Having a fine, light grain and being comparatively light in weight, it has been used for centuries for this purpose; despite the availability of modern alternatives, it remains one of the main materials used . In China, it was also widely used in carving or furniture, interior decorating, handicrafts, etc. therefore, people use logs of Tilia trees to cultivate S. edulis and even black fungus or shiitake mushrooms with excellent results. Currently, "椴木黑木耳/Tilia-logs-black fungus" or "椴木香菇/Tilia-logs-shiitake mushrooms" has become a term for a method of cultivating black fungus and shiitake mushrooms and "椴木/Tilia-logs" no longer exclusively refers to Tilia tree wood but also to other woods suitable for black fungus or shiitake mushrooms cultivation. In Russian, "linden-made" (липовый, lipoviy) is a term for forgery, due to the popularity of the material for making forged seals in the past centuries. Bark Known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America, its name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as bast. A strong fibre is obtained from the tree by peeling off the bark and soaking it in water for a month, after which the inner fibres can be easily separated. Bast obtained from the inside of the bark of the Tilia japonica tree has been used by the Ainu people of Japan to weave their traditional clothing, the attus. Excavations in Britain have shown that lime tree fibre was preferred for clothing there during the Bronze Age. The Manchu people in the mountains of Northeast China made ropes, baskets, raincoats, large fishing nets, and guide lines for gunpowder from the bast. Similar fibres obtained from other plants are also called bast: see Bast fibre. Nectar Tilia is a high-quality wild honey plant. In China, "椴树蜜/Tilia honey" is produced in the northeast region. White in color, it is called "white honey" or "snow honey". Heilongjiang is well-known throughout the country for producing high-quality "Tilia honey": Heilongjiang not only has lush Tilia trees, but also a rare and excellent bee species - "东北黑蜂/northeast black bee" to collect honey（Raohe County is the location of the national "东北黑蜂自然保护区/Northeast Black Bee Nature Reserve". It is the only nature reserve for bees in Asia.). "Tilia honey" mainly comes from Tilia amurensis and Tilia mandshurica. Phytochemicals The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Linden flower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. Phytochemicals in the Tilia flowers include flavonoids and tannins with astringent properties. The nectar contains a major secondary metabolite with the trivial name tiliaside (1-[4-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-1,3-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate]-6-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranose), which is transformed in the gut of bumblebees to the aglycone (i.e., the gentiobiose group is cleaved), which is bioactive against a common and debilitating gut parasite of bumblebees, Crithidia bombi. This naturally occurring compound may support bees to manage the burden of disease - one of the major contributors to pollinator decline. Other uses A beverage made from dried linden leaves and flowers is brewed and consumed as a folk medicine and relaxant in many Eastern European countries. Usually, the double-flowered species are used to make perfumes. The leaf buds and young leaves are also edible raw. Tilia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Tilia. == In culture ==

'' leaf fossil, 49 Ma, Washington state In Europe, some linden trees reached considerable ages. A coppice of T. cordata in Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire is estimated to be 2,000 years old. In the courtyard of the Imperial Castle at Nuremberg is a Tilia, which by tradition recounted in 1900, was planted by the Empress Cunigunde, the wife of Henry II of Germany circa 1000. The Tilia of Neuenstadt am Kocher in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was estimated at 1000 years old when it fell. Next to the 英華殿/Yinghua Temple in the Forbidden City in Beijing, there are two Tilia trees planted by Empress Dowager Li, the biological mother of Wanli Emperor about five hundred years ago. • The excellence of the honey of the far-famed Hyblaean Mountains was due to the linden trees that covered its sides and crowned its summit. • Lime fossils have been found in the Tertiary formations of Grinnell Land, Canada, at 82°N latitude, and in Svalbard, Norway. Sapporta believed he had found there the common ancestor of the Tilia species of Europe and America. == Gallery ==

File:AmericanBasswood.JPG|Tilia americana File:Tilia-cordata2.JPG|Tilia cordata File:Tilia henryana.jpg|Tilia henryana File:Tilia monticola JPG1FeA.jpg|Tilia heterophylla (syn. T. monticola) File:Tilia insularis 3.jpg|Tilia insularis File:Tilia japonica.JPG|Tilia japonica File:Tilia maximowicziana 1.JPG|Tilia maximowicziana File:Tilia miqueliana3.jpg|Tilia miqueliana File:Tilia mongolica0.jpg|Tilia mongolica File:Tilia oliveri JPG1Fe.jpg|Tilia oliveri File:20140508Tilia platyphyllos3.jpg|Tilia platyphyllos File:Tilia-tomentosa.JPG|Tilia tomentosa == See also ==