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Malvaceae FAMILY

Tilia tomentosa

Tilia tomentosa

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

The flowers are toxic to bumble bees[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthMedium

Prefers a good moist loamy alkaline to neutral soil but succeeds on slightly acid soils[1, 2]. Grows poorly on any very dry or very wet soil[2]. According to another report this species succeeds in a hot dry position. Dislikes exposed positions[2]. Succeeds in sun or semi-shade[3]. This species thrives in southern England[1], though it prefers a continental climate, growing more slowly and not producing fertile seed in areas with cool summers[2]. Lime trees tend to hybridise freely if other members of the genus are growing nearby[4]. 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[2]. The fragrant flowers of this tree are toxic to bees[3]. Trees are usually attacked by aphids which cover the ground and the leaves with a sticky honeydew[3]. Rarely produces suckers. Quite tolerant of root disturbance, semi-mature trees up to 5 metres tall have been transplanted successfully. 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[5]. 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[5]. 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[5]. 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[5]. 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[6]. 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+tomentosa>

Pollinators

Insects

References

  1. [1]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  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 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.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]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.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]Famine Foods listed in the Chiu-Huang Pen-ts'ao. — Reid. B. E. · Southern Materials Centre; Taipei · 1977 · ISBN - ↩︎A translation of an ancient Chinese book on edible wild foods. Fascinating.
  9. [9]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  10. [10]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.
  11. [11]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.
  12. [12]The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. — Elias. T. · Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. · 1980 · ISBN 0442238622 ↩︎A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.
  13. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎