Tilia platyphyllos

Tilia platyphyllos, the large-leaved lime,<ref name="BSBI">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Pigott">Template:Cite journal</ref> broad-leaved lime,<ref name="TSO">Template:Cite web</ref> or large-leaved linden,<ref name="TSO"/> is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native to much of continental Europe including southwestern Great Britain, typically growing on limestone-derived soils. It is not native in Scotland or Ireland, but is naturalised there.<ref name="BSBI"/> The name "lime", possibly a corruption of "line" originally from "lind", has been in use for centuries and also attaches to other species of Tilia.<ref name=SOED>Template:Cite book</ref> It is not, however, closely related to the lime fruit tree, a species of citrus.

The specific epithet platyphyllos (Greek: πλατύφυλλος) means "with broad leaves" in Greek.<ref name=RHSLG>Template:Cite book</ref>

Taxonomy

The species was described by the Italian botanist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli from Carniola,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> now part of Slovenia.

Five subspecies are currently accepted by the Plants of the World Online;<ref name="POWO">Template:Cite POWO</ref> they differ mainly in detail of leaf pubescence,<ref name="Pigott"/> with some geographical segregation; three are widespread, the other two more localised:<ref name="POWO"/>

• Tilia platyphyllos subsp. platyphyllos — widespread, but mainly in the more southern areas of the species distribution. Leaves glabrous above, with simple hairs below.<ref name="Pigott"/>
• Tilia platyphyllos subsp. cordifolia (Besser) C.K.Schneid. — widespread, but mainly in the more northern areas of the species distribution, including England.<ref name="BSBI"/> Leaves with short, simple hairs sparsely (2–4 mm−2) on the upper surface, and simple hairs densely on the lower surface.<ref name="Pigott"/>
• Tilia platyphyllos subsp. corinthiaca (Bosc ex K.Koch) Pigott — Balkans, Turkey.
• Tilia platyphyllos subsp. pseudorubra C.K.Schneid. — widespread, but mainly in the more western areas of the species distribution. Leaves glabrous both above and below.<ref name="Pigott"/>
• Tilia platyphyllos subsp. sitnensis (Kmet) Domin — endemic to Slovakia.

Description

Tilia platyphyllos is a narrowly domed tree with a moderate growth rate, and can eventually attain a height of Template:Convert, though more typically 20–25 m tall when open-grown away from other trees. The reddish-brown young stems later develop dark grey bark with fine fissures and furrows. The branches spread upwards at wide angles. The twigs are reddish-green and slightly pubescent.<ref name="Pigott"/><ref>Martin, W.K. 1965. The Concise British Flora in Colour. Ebury Press</ref> The foliage consists of simple, alternately arranged leaves. As indicated by its common name, this tree has larger leaves than the related Tilia cordata (small-leaved lime), 6 to 9 cm (exceptionally 15 cm) long and broad. They are ovate to cordate, mid to dark green above and below, with white downy hair on the underside (except in subsp. pseudorubra), particularly along the veins, tapering into a mucronate tip. The margin is sharply serrate, and the base cordate; the venation is pinnate along a midrib. The pubescent petiole is usually 3–4 cm long, but can vary between 1.5–5 cm. The autumn foliage is yellow-green to yellow.

The small, fragrant, yellowish-white flowers are arranged in drooping, cymose clusters in groups of 3 to 4. Their whitish-green, leaf-like bracts have an oblong-obovate shape. The geniculate peduncles are between 1.5–3 cm long. The hermaphroditic flowers have 5 sepals and 5 petals, numerous stamens, but no staminodes. The superior ovary is 2–10 locular with one smooth style. The flowers are pollinated by bees and some butterflies, notably the White-letter Hairstreak. The fruit is a round greenish-grey nutlet, 9–12 mm long by 8–10 mm diameter; it has a woody shell with five prominent ridges (which distinguish it from all other limes except Tilia chinensis), and is usually tomentose between the ridges.<ref name="Pigott"/>

• Leaves
  Leaves
• Flowers
  Flowers
• White-letter hairstreak nectaring on T. platyphyllos flower
  White-letter hairstreak nectaring on T. platyphyllos flower
• Roots
  Roots
• Vegetative bud starting to open
  Vegetative bud starting to open

Cultivation

Tilia platyphyllos is widely planted throughout the temperate world as an ornamental tree in parks and city streets. Numerous cultivars are available, including 'Aurea', (golden leafed), 'Fastigiata', 'Laciniata' (seemingly torn leaves), 'Örebro' (columnar), 'Princes Street' (narrow crown), 'Rubra' (red twigged), 'Tortuosa' (twisted branches), and 'Tiltstone Filigree' (upswept branches).<ref name=White>White, J. & More, D. (2003). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. Cassell's, London. Template:ISBN.</ref>

The cultivar 'Rubra' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hybrids

Tilia platyphyllos readily hybridises with Tilia cordata, the hybrid being the common lime T. × europaea (syn. T. × vulgaris).

Fossil record

Fossils of Tilia platyphyllos have been described from the fossil flora of Kızılcahamam district in Turkey, which is of early Pliocene age.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Use

Tilia wood is used for carving, and almost all parts of the tree can be used for fodder, ropes or firewood. Bast and honey, which were historically the main products of Tilia, may have been an important factor in the spread of the species and its status as a typical agroforestry tree in the Middle Ages. Tilia spp. are also important for amenity use, shelterbelts and game plantings in the open landscape, in urban areas and recreational forestry.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Traditional medicine

The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.<ref name=bradley>Bradley P, ed. British Herbal Compendium. Vol. I. Dorset (Great Britain): British herbal Medicine Association; 1624: 142–144</ref> The wood is burned to charcoal and ingested for intestinal disorders and used topically for edema or infection, such as cellulitis or of the lower leg.<ref name=bradley/>

Famous trees

• 300-year-old T. platyphyllos at Schloss Linderhof Bavaria – known in German as the "Koenigslinde".<ref name=McIntosh2012>Template:Cite book</ref>
• 350-year-old T. platyphyllos at Schloss Holzheim Hesse – known as the "Landgrave's lime".
• 700-year-old T. platyphyllos at Bojnice Castle, Slovakia – known in Slovak as "Bojnická lipa" ("the Bojnice Linden") or "Lipa kráľa Mateja" ("King Matej's Linden").<ref name=montrees>Template:Cite web</ref>
• 550-year-old T. platyphyllos in Bracon, Jura, France – planted to mark the marriage of Marie de Bourgogne to Maximilian I of the House of Habsburg in Austria in 1477.
• T. platyphyllos in Heeder Linde Park, Heede, Germany 15.39 metres girth.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Tilia platyphyllos - distribution map, genetic conservation units and related resources. European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN)