Tilia platyphyllos

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Rosids
Cladus: Eurosids II
Ordo: Malvales

Familia: Malvaceae
Subfamilia: Tilioideae
Genus: Tilia
Sectio: T. sect. Tilia
Species: Tilia platyphyllos
Subspecies: T. p. subsp. cordifolia – T. p. subsp. corinthiaca – T. p. subsp. platyphyllos – T. p. subsp. pseudorubra
Name

Tilia platyphyllos Scop., Fl. Carniol. ed. 2, 1: 373 1771.
Synonyms

Homotypic
Tilia officinarum subsp. platyphyllos (Scop.) Hayek

References

Komarov, V.L. et al. (eds.). 1934–1964. Flora SSSR. 30 vols. Moscow/Leningrad: Botanicheskii institut, Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. Reference page.
Davis, P.H. (ed.) 1965–1988. Flora of Turkey and the East Aegean Islands. 9 vols. + Supplement. University Press, Edinburgh. Reference page.
Pigott, C.D. 2012. Lime-trees and Basswoods: A Biological Monograph of the Genus Tilia. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press, 405 pp., ISBN 978-0-521-84054-5. Reference page.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Ліпа буйналістая
български: Едролистна липа
català: Tell de fulla grossa
kaszëbsczi: Wiôlgòlëstnô lëpa
čeština: Lípa velkolistá
Cymraeg: Pisgwydden Dail Mawr
dansk: Storbladet Lind
Deutsch: Sommer-Linde
English: Large-leaved Lime
español: Tilo de hoja ancha
euskara: Ezki hostozabal
فارسی: نمدار برگ‌درش
suomi: Isolehtilehmus
français: Tilleul à grandes feuilles
galego: Tileiro de folla grande
hornjoserbsce: Zažna lipa
magyar: Nagylevelű hárs
italiano: Tiglio nostrale
日本語: ナツボダイジュ
lietuvių: Didžialapė liepa
norsk bokmål: Storlind
Nederlands: Grootbladige linde
norsk: Storlind
polski: Lipa szerokolistna
română: Tei cu frunza mare
русский: Липа крупнолистная
slovenčina: Lipa veľkolistá
svenska: Bohuslind
Türkçe: Büyük yapraklı ıhlamur
українська: Липа великолисна
Tiếng Việt: Đoạn lá to
中文: 闊葉椴

Tilia platyphyllos, the large-leaved lime or large-leaved linden, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae (Tiliaceae). It is a deciduous tree, native to much of Europe, including locally in southwestern Great Britain, growing on lime-rich soils. The common names largeleaf linden[1] and large-leaved linden are in standard use throughout the English-speaking world except in the British Isles, where it is known as large-leaved lime.[2] 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.[3] It is not, however, closely related to the lime fruit tree, a species of citrus.

The specific epithet platyphyllos (greek: πλατύφυλλος) means in greek "with broad leaves".[4]

Description

Tilia platyphyllos is a narrowly domed tree with a moderate growth rate, and can eventually attain a height of 40 m. 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.[5] 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). They are ovate to cordate, mid to dark green above and below, with white downy hair on the underside, 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 tepals, 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 fat, round, tomentose, cream-colored nutlet with a diameter of 1 cm or less. It has a woody shell with 3–5 ridges.

Leaves

Flowers

White-letter Hairstreak nectaring on T. platyphyllos flower

Roots

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).[6]

The cultivar 'Rubra' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[7][8]
Hybrids

Tilia platyphyllos readily hybridizes 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.[9]
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.[10]
Traditional medicine

The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.[11] 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.[11]
Famous trees

300-year-old T. platyphyllos at Schloss Linderhof Bavaria – known in German as the "Koenigslinde".[12]
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").[13]

References

"Tilia platyphyllos". Natural Resources Conservation Service PLANTS Database. USDA. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
RHS A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants. United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. 2008. p. 1136. ISBN 1405332964.
Shorter Oxford English dictionary, 6th ed. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. 2007. p. 3804. ISBN 0199206872.
Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. p. 224. ISBN 9781845337315.
Martin, W.K. 1965. The Concise British Flora in Colour. Ebury Press
White, J. & More, D. (2003). Trees of Britain & Northern Europe. Cassell's, London. ISBN 0-304-36192-5.
"RHS Plant Selector – Tilia platyphyllos 'Rubra'". RHS. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
"AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 102. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
Kasaplıgil, Baki (1977). "Ankara, Kızılcahamam yakınındaki Güvem köyü civarında bulunan son tersiyer kozalaklı-yeşil yapraklı ormanı" [A Late-Tertiary Conifer-Hardwood Forest From the Vicinity of Güvem Village, Near Kızılcahamam, Ankara] (PDF). Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration (in Turkish and English). Ankara: General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration. 88: 94-102.
Jensen, J.S. (2003). "Lime - Tilia spp" (PDF). EUFORGEN Technical guidelines for genetic conservation and use: 6 p. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-04.
Bradley P, ed. British Herbal Compendium. Vol. I. Dorset (Great Britain): British herbal Medicine Association; 1624: 142–144
McIntosh, Christopher (15 September 2012). The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria. I.B.Tauris. p. 193. ISBN 978-1-84885-847-3.
"Large-leaved lime near the castle". Monumental trees. Retrieved 17 February 2014.