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Malvaceae FAMILY

Tilia cordata

Tilia cordata

Edibility
5/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

If the flowers used for making tea are too old, they may produce symptoms of narcotic intoxication[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthMedium

Prefers a good moist loamy alkaline to neutral soil but it also succeeds on slightly acid soils[2]. Grows poorly on any very dry or very wet soil[2]. Tolerates considerable exposure[3, PFAF]. Succeeds in sun or semi-shade[4]. Plants can be transplanted quite easily, even when large, trees up to 60 years old have been moved successfully[5, 6]. Trees are very amenable to coppicing or pollarding[7]. They produce numerous suckers from the base[8]. Suckers are produced but not freely according to another report[7]. This species produces far less suckers than T. platyphyllos or T. x vulgaris[9]. This species grows well in Britain, but it rarely produces viable seed in areas with cool summers[2]. Lime trees tend to hybridise freely if other members of the genus are growing nearby[9]. If growing plants from seed it is important to ensure the seed came from a wild source or from an isolated clump of the single species[PFAF]. Grows best in a woodland situation, young plants tolerate a reasonable level of side shade[7]. Mature trees cast a dense shade[7]. A very valuable bee plant, producing an abundance of nectar[7]. A valuable species for wildlife, there are 31 species of insects associated with this tree[10]. The leaves are very attractive to leaf aphis and these aphis produce an abundance of sweet secretions which drip off the leaves to the ground below and also attract sooty mould fungus[7]. This makes the tree unsuitable for street planting. This species, however, is less likely to become infested with aphis than T. platyphyllos or T. x vulgaris[9]. There are some named varieties selected for their ornamental value[4]. Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[2].

Propagation

Seed - much of the seed produced in Britain is not viable, cut a few seedcases open to see if there is a seed inside[11]. If possible, obtain fresh seed that is ripe but has not as yet developed a hard seed coat and sow it immediately in a cold frame. It may germinate in the following spring though it could take 18 months[11]. Stored seed can be very slow to germinate. It has a hard seed coat, embryo dormancy and a hard coat on the pericarp. All these factors mean that the seed may take up to 8 years to germinate[11]. One way of shortening this time is to stratify the seed for 5 months at high temperatures (10°c at night, up to 30°c by day) and then 5 months cold stratification[11]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for their first winter. Plant them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts. Layering in spring just before the leaves unfurl. Takes 1 - 3 years[12]. Suckers, when formed, can be removed with as much root as possible during the dormant season and replanted immediately[2]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Tilia+cordata>

Pollinators

Bees

References

  1. [1]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]The Plantsman. Vol. 5. 1983 - 1984. — ? · Royal Horticultural Society · 1983 · ISBN - ↩︎Excerpts from the periodical giving cultivation details and other notes on some of the useful plants.
  4. [4]The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers — Brickell. C. · Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. · 1990 · ISBN 0-86318-386-7 ↩︎Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.
  5. [5]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  6. [6]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  7. [7]Planting Native Trees and Shrubs. — Beckett. G. and K. · Jarrold · 1979 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent guide to native British trees and shrubs with lots of details about the plants.
  8. [8]Seed Manual for Ornamental Trees and Shrubs. — Gordon. A. G. and Rowe. D. C. F. · HMSO; London · 1982 · ISBN 0-11-710152-4 ↩︎Very comprehensive guide to growing trees and shrubs from seed. Not for the casual reader.
  9. [9]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  10. [10]Making a Wildlife Garden. — Baines. C. ↩︎Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.
  11. [11]Hardy Woody Plants from Seed. — McMillan-Browse. P. · Grower Books · 1985 · ISBN 0-901361-21-6 ↩︎Does not deal with many species but it is very comprehensive on those that it does cover. Not for casual reading.
  12. [12]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  13. [13]Flora of the British Isles. — Clapham, Tutin and Warburg. · Cambridge University Press · 1962 · ISBN - ↩︎A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
  14. [14]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  15. [15]The Useful Plants of Great Britain. — Johnson. C. P. ↩︎Written about a hundred years ago, but still a very good guide to the useful plants of Britain.
  16. [16]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  18. [18]Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. — Triska. Dr. · Hamlyn · 1975 · ISBN 0-600-33545-3 ↩︎Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
  19. [19]Identification Guide to the Trees of Canada — Lauriault. J. · Fitzhenry and Whiteside, Ontario. · 1989 · ISBN 0889025649 ↩︎Very good on identification for non-experts, the book also has a lot of information on plant uses.
  20. [20]Complete Guide to Herbs. — Holtom. J. and Hylton. W. · Rodale Press · 1979 · ISBN 0-87857-262-7 ↩︎A good herbal.
  21. [21]A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. — Usher. G. · Constable · 1974 · ISBN 0094579202 ↩︎Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
  22. [22]Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. — Polunin. O. · Oxford University Press · 1969 · ISBN 0192176218 ↩︎An excellent and well illustrated pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant uses.
  23. [23]Plant Fibres for Papermaking. — Bell. L. A. · Liliaceae Press · 1988 · ISBN - ↩︎A good practical section on how to make paper on a small scale plus details of about 75 species (quite a few of them tropical) that can be used.
  24. [24]CosIng — http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/cosing/ ↩︎CosIng is the European Commission database for information on cosmetic substances and ingredients.
  25. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎