Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in Asia (where the greatest species diversity is found), Europe and eastern North America; it is not native to western North America. Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research by the APG has resulted in the incorporation of this family into the Malvaceae. The trees are generally called lime in Britain and linden in parts of Europe and North America (where they are also known as basswood).
Tilia species are large deciduous trees, reaching typically 20–40 m tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6–20 cm across, and are found through the north temperate regions. The exact number of species is subject to considerable uncertainty, as many or most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation.
Name Tilia
Lime is an altered form of Middle English lind, in the 16th century also line, from Old English feminine lind or linde, Proto-Germanic *lendā, cognate to Latin lentus "flexible" and Sanskrit latā "liana". Within Germanic, English lithe, German lind "lenient, yielding" are from the same root.
Linden was originally the adjective, "made from lime-wood", from the late 16th century also used as a noun, probably influenced by translations of German romance, as an adoption of Linden, the plural of German Linde (OED). Neither the name nor the tree is related to the citrus fruit called "lime" (Citrus aurantifolia, family Rutaceae). Another widely-used common name used in North America is Basswood, derived from bast, the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below).
Latin tilia is cognate to Greek πτελέᾱ "elm tree", τιλίαι "black poplar" (Hes.), ultimately from a PIE *ptel-ei̯ā with a meaning of "broad (feminine)", perhaps "broad-leaved" or similar (IEW).
Species
The following list comprises those most widely accepted species.
• Tilia americana Basswood or American Linden
• Tilia amurensis Amur Lime or Amur Linden
• Tilia begoniifolia; syn. T. dasystyla subsp. caucasica
• Tilia caroliniana Carolina Basswood
• Tilia chinensis
• Tilia chingiana
• Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime or Little-leaf Linden
• Tilia dasystyla
• Tilia henryana Henry's Lime or Henry's Linden
• Tilia heterophylla White Basswood
• Tilia hupehensis Hubei Lime
• Tilia insularis
• Tilia intonsa
• Tilia japonica Japanese Lime, Shina (When used as a laminate)
• Tilia kiusiana
• Tilia mandshurica Manchurian Lime
• Tilia maximowicziana
• Tilia mexicana; syn. T. americana var. mexicana
• Tilia miqueliana
• Tilia mongolica Mongolian Lime or Mongolian Linden
• Tilia nobilis
• Tilia occidentalis — West lime
• Tilia oliveri Oliver's Lime
• Tilia paucicostata
• Tilia platyphyllos Large-leaved Lime
• Tilia rubra; syn. T. platyphyllos var. rubra — Caucasian lime
• Tilia tomentosa Silver Lime or Silver Linden
• Tilia tuan
Uses
Linden foliage in autumn colors from Ekoparken in Stockholm.
The Linden is to be recommended as an ornamental tree when a mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired. The tree produces fragrant and nectar-producing flowers, the medicinal herb lime blossom. They are very important honey plants for beekeepers, producing a very pale but richly flavoured monofloral honey. The flowers are also used for herbal tea, and this infusion is particularly popular in Europe.
T. cordata is the preferred species for medical use, having a high concentration of active compounds. It is said to be a nervine, used by herbalists in treating restlessness, hysteria, and headaches. Usually, the double-flowered lindens 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 species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Tilia.
The timber of lime trees is soft, easily worked, and has very little grain, so it is a popular wood for model building and intricate carving. Ease of working and good acoustic properties also make it popular for electric guitar and bass bodies and wind instruments such as recorders. It is also the wood of choice for the window-blinds and shutters industries. Real wood blinds are often made from this lightweight but strong and stable wood which is well suited to natural and stained finishes.
It is known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America. This name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as bast (Old English language). A very strong fibre was obtained from this, by peeling off the bark and soaking in water for a month; after which the inner fibres can be easily separated. Bast obtained from the inside of the bark of the lime tree has been used by the Ainu people of Japan to weave their traditional clothing, the attus.
In the percussion industry, basswood is sometimes used as a material for drum shells, both to enhance their sound and their aesthetics. Basswood is also frequently used as a material for electric guitar and bass bodies. In the past, it was typically used (along with Agathis) for favoured for less-expensive models. However, due to its better resonance at mid and high frequency, and better sustain than alder, it is now more commonly in use with superstrats. It can also be used for the neck because of its excellent material integrity when bent and ability to produce consistent tone without any dead spots according to Parker Guitars.
History
In Europe, Lime trees are known to have reached ages measured in centuries, if not longer. A coppice of T. cordata in Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, for example, is estimated to be 2,000 years old. In the courtyard of the Imperial Castle at Nuremberg is a lime which tradition says was planted by the Empress Cunigunde, the wife of Henry II of Germany. This would make the tree about nine hundred years old (as of 1900 when it was described). It looks ancient and infirm, but in 1900 was sending forth thrifty leaves on its two or three remaining branches and was of course cared for tenderly. The famous Lime of Neustadt on the Kocher in Württemberg was computed to be one thousand years old when it fell. The Alte Linde tree of Naters, Switzerland, is mentioned in a document in 1357 and described by the writer at that time as already "magnam" (huge). A plaque at its foot mentions that in 1155 a Lime tree was already on this spot.
•The excellence of the honey of far-famed Hybla was due to the lime trees that covered its sides and crowned its summit.
•The name of Linnaeus, the great botanist, was derived from a lime tree.
•Tilia appears in the tertiary formations of Grinnel Land in 82° north latitude, and in Spitsbergen. Sapporta believed that he found there the common ancestor of the limes of Europe and America.