Tilia
| Tilia | |
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| File:Tiliacordata1web.jpg | |
| Tilia cordata | |
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| Genus: | Tilia |
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About 30; see text | |
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 absent from 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 linden in North America, and lime in Britain. Both names are derived from the Germanic root lind. The modern forms in English derive from linde or linne in Anglo Saxon and old Norse, and in Britain the word transformed more recently to the modern British form lime. In the United States, the modern German name Linde, from the same root, became more common, partly to avoid confusion with any other uses of the name. Neither the name nor the tree is in any way related to the citrus fruit called "lime" (Citrus aurantifolia). Another widely-used common name used in North America is Basswood, derived from bast, the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below).
Tilia species are large deciduous trees, reaching typically 20-40m tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6-20cm 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; the following list comprises those most widely accepted.
- Species
- Tilia americana Basswood or American Linden
- Tilia amurensis Amur Lime or Amur Linden
- Tilia begoniifolia
- Tilia caroliniana Carolina Basswood
- Tilia chinensis
- Tilia chingiana
- Tilia cordata Small-leaved Lime or Little-leaf Linden
- Tilia mongolica Mongolian Lime or Mongolian Linden
- Tilia dasystyla
- Tilia henryana Henry's Lime or Henry's Linden
- Tilia heterophylla White Basswood
- Tilia insularis
- Tilia intonsa
- Tilia japonica Japanese Lime
- Tilia kiusiana
- Tilia mandshurica Manchurian Lime
- Tilia maximowicziana
- Tilia 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 - Kafkas lime
- Tilia tomentosa Silver Lime or Silver Linden
- Tilia tuan
- Hybrids and cultivars
- Tilia × euchlora (T. dasystyla × T. platyphyllos)
- Tilia × europaea Common Lime (T. cordata × T. platyphyllos)
- Tilia × petiolaris (T. tomentosa × T. ?)
- Tilia 'Flavescens' (T. americana × T. cordata)
- Tilia 'Moltkei' (hybrid, unknown origin)
- Tilia 'Orbicularis' (hybrid, unknown origin)
- Tilia 'Spectabilis' (hybrid, unknown origin)
Uses
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 honey. The flowers are also used for herbal tea. 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 which feed on Tilia.
The timber of lime trees is soft and easily worked, so is a popular wood for carving. The wood is often used for model building and intricate carving, and for making electric guitar bodies.
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.
The lime tree is the national emblem of Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, where it is called lipa (in Slovak and Slovenian) and lípa (in Czech). The lime tree is also the tree of legend of the Slavs. In the Slavic Orthodox Christian world, limewood was the preferred wood for panel icon painting. The famous icons by the hand of Andrei Rublev, including the Holy Trinity (Hospitality of Abraham), and The Savior, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, are painted on limewood. Limewood was chosen for its ability to be sanded very smooth, and for its resistance to warping once seasoned.
The tilia was also a highly symbolic and hallowed tree in Germanic mythology. In Germany e.g., there are over 850 place names that can be traced back to it: For pre-Christian Germans it was an object of worship since the lime-tree was associated with Freya, the guardian of life and goddess of fortune, love and truth. Therefore her tree was considered a tree of peace and it often formed the central meeting place of many villages and rural communities. Furthermore, legend has it that it cannot be struck by lightning since Freya is the wife of Wodan, the main god of the Germanic pantheon. Consequently, it was assumed that the lime-tree possessed some protective power against evil and catastrophe, and even after the Christianization of Germany the lime-tree’s positive connotation continued: Motherly Freya was subsequently replaced by the Mother of God, so that many trees were rededicated to St. Mary (Marienlinde). Accordingly, limewood was used as a superstitious precaution against witchcraft or Satan and the tree kept its prominent role as a benign guardian of the village.
Originally, local communities not only assembled to celebrate and dance under the lime-tree and the aegis of Freya, but also to hold their judicial thing meetings there in order to restore justice and peace. It was believed that the tree would help unearth the truth and that no one was able to lie maliciously without attracting Freya’s rage. Thus the tree became associated with jurisprudence even after Christianization and verdicts in rural Germany were frequently returned sub talia (under the lime-tree) until the Age of Enlightenment.
As Freya was also the goddess of love her tree was always considered a romantic symbol, even to the present day. For instance, a very famous mediaeval love poem by Walther von der Vogelweide (c.1170-c.1230) starts with a reference to the lime-tree:
- Under der linden
- an der heide,
- dâ unser zweier bette was,
- dâ mugt ir vinden
- schône beide
- gebrochen bluomen unde gras.
- vor dem walde in einem tal,
- tandaradei,
- schône sanc diu nategal.
- Under the lime tree
- on the open field,
- where we two had our bed,
- you still can see
- lovely broken
- flowers and grass.
- On the edge of the woods in a vale,
- tandaradei,
- sweetly sang the nightingale.
See also
- Dragostea Din Tei - a Romanian/Moldovan song referring to lindens
- Unter den Linden - an avenue of lindens in Berlin, Germany