Tree Flowers: November 2017: Lime (Tilia Species)

Pollen deposits found from pre-historic lime blossom has revealed that the small-leaved lime was once the most common tree in lowland England. However this wasn't the case for long as the tree cannot produce fertile fruit below a mean average summer temperature of around 20 degree Celsius. This drop happened around 3000BC in England meaning that the lime tree was stuck wherever it had already occupied. These places became fewer as woodland was cleared and the lime was then used for coppicing.

Species of Tilia remain popular amenity trees, planted in many communal places, such as parks and tow roadside verges. We even have a circle of lime trees in a nearby housing estate.

There are three lime trees in Britain (often called Linden trees in other parts of the world), with the small-leaved and large-leaved lime being the parents of the fertile common lime. The large-leave lime remains quite a rarity, with the other two being much more common.

Lime trees can persist almost indefinitely via the wonders of coppicing, via which the tree provides 'bast' (the origin of names such as Bastwick in Norfolk), which is the inner bark from young poles for making rope and fabric fibres. But historically, the lime has also been used for wood carving.

Westonbirt Arboretum in England has a coppice of limes that has been estimated to be around 2000 years old and can be seen in the photo below.

But what I really like of the lime is the bract that hovers over the flowers making it clear to the world that it is, indeed, a lime tree.

The flowers mature at different times, so you'll be able to see buds as well as fully open flowers.

Each flower contains both the male and female parts, with the petals being a greeny-yellow colour. The flowers hang in clusters ranging in number from around 4 to 10. The pale filament provides a good contrast to the bright yellow anther, all of which surround a robust stigma.


Because the bract is so easy to see, even from a moving car, I enjoy looking for the flowers each year, which tend to arrive by mid-summer. I'm very much looking forward to observing the flowers again next year.

References:
Mabey, R. (1996) Flora Britannica. 1st edition. London: Chatto & Windus / Sinclair Stevenson.
More, D. and White, J. (2012) Illustrated Trees of Britain and Northern Europe. London, UK: A&C Black.