Description
Tilia – Lime Tree – Linden – Basswood –
There are 20-45 fast growing, deciduous trees in the Malvaceae family, in this genus. They occur in woodlands in temperate Northern Hemisphere. They are grown for their stately, rounded to conical crown, their foliage and flowers, and in some cases, for their colorful winter shoots. The oblique-cordata shaped leaves, arranged alternately on slender stalks, are toothed or lobed, with tapered to pointed tips and heart shaped bases which briefly turn yellow in fall. On old trees, the smooth silver-gray bark becomes fissures with great age. Bear small, cup shaped, fragrant,, creamy white to yellow flowers in slender, axillary cymes with long stalks are fused with the upper surfaces of large, narrowly elliptic or inversely lance shaped, membranous bracts, usually pale yellow or green, to 6″ long. The flowers are followed by dry, nut like fruits. Grow as a freestanding specimens or street trees. The flowers attract bees, although the nectar of T. tomentosa and T. ‘Petiolaris’ may be toxic,,, especially to bumblebees. They withstand heavy pruning and atmospheric pollution.
Grow in moist but well drained soil in full sun or partial shade. Avoid very conditions and exposure to strong winds. Lindens prefer areas with four distinct seasons and alkaline or neutral soil, but tolerate acidic soil. Several species produce dense thickets of shoots from the bass and from burrs on the trunk, control these by cutting back in early spring and again in late summer.
Prone to anthracnose, butt rot, canker, powdery mildew, bacterial leaf spot, caterpillars (including gypsy moth larvae), lace bugs, aphids, borers, Japanese beetle and mites.
T. mongolica – Mongolian Linden – Mongolian Lime – This round tree or shrub is rare in cultivation, is found naturally occurring in Mongolia, Northern China and Russia and grows 50-60′ feet tall and 40’’ feet wide. It has gray bark that becomes fissured and purple tinted with age. From reddish shoots and stalks it carries glossy, small dark green leaves, to 2 ½” long, blue green beneath, and red when young they are rounded to triangular, and deeply cut into 3 or5 maple like lobes and are toothed. In early summer, bears pale yellow flowers, 33/4″ across, in pendent cymes as few as 6 or up to 30.
Zones 3-7
