{{taxobox |image = Tilia tomentosa.jpg |image_caption = ''Tilia tomentosa''Morton Arboretum acc. 1040-65*2 |regnum = Plantae |unranked_divisio = Angiosperms |unranked_classis = Eudicots |unranked_ordo = Rosids |ordo = Malvales |familia = Malvaceae |subfamilia = Tilioideae |genus = ''Tilia'' |genus_authority = L. |subdivision_ranks = Species |subdivision = About 30 |}}

''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, in Asia (where the greatest species diversity is found), Europe and eastern North America; they are not native to western North America. Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research by the APG has resulted in the incorporation of this family into the Malvaceae. They are generally called lime in Britain and linden or basswood in North America.

''Tilia'' species are large deciduous trees, reaching typically tall, with oblique-cordate leaves across, and are found through the north temperate regions. The exact number of species is subject to considerable uncertainty, as many or most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation.

Name

''Lime'' is an altered form of Middle English ''lind'', in the 16th century also ''line'', from Old English feminine ''lind'' or ''linde'', Proto-Germanic ''*lendā'', cognate to Latin ''lentus'' "flexible" and Sanskrit ''latā'' "liana". Within Germanic languages, English ''lithe'', German ''lind'' "lenient, yielding" are from the same root.

''Linden'' was originally the adjective, "made from lime-wood" (equivalent to "wooden"), from the late 16th century "linden" was also used as a noun, probably influenced by translations of German romance, as an adoption of ''Linden'', the plural of German ''Linde''. Neither the name nor the tree is related to the citrus fruit called "lime" (''Citrus aurantifolia'', family Rutaceae). Another widely-used common name used in North America is ''basswood'', derived from ''bast'', the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below). In the US, the name "lime" is used only for the citrus tree. Teil is an old name for the lime tree.

Latin ''tilia'' is cognate to Greek πτελέᾱ, ''ptelea'', "elm tree", τιλίαι, ''tiliai'', "black poplar" (Hes.), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European word ''*ptel-ei̯ā'' with a meaning of "broad" (feminine); perhaps "broad-leaved" or similar.

Description

The ''Tilia'' sturdy trunk stands like a pillar and the branches divide and subdivide into numerous ramifications on which the twigs are fine and thick. In summer these are profusely clothed with large leaves and the result is a dense head of abundant foliage.

The leaves of all the ''Tilia'' species are heart-shaped and most are asymmetrical, and the tiny fruit, looking like peas, always hang attached to a curious, ribbon-like, greenish yellow bract, whose use seems to be to launch the ripened seed-clusters just a little beyond the parent tree. The flowers of the European and American ''Tilia'' species are similar, except that the American bears a petal-like scale among its stamens and the European varieties are devoid of these appendages. All of the ''Tilia'' species may be propagated by cuttings and grafting as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in a rich soil, but are subject to the attack of many insects.

In particular aphids are attracted by the rich supply of sap, and are themselves often "farmed" by ants for the production of the sap which the ants collect for their own use, and the result can often be a dripping of excess sap onto the lower branches and leaves, and anything else below. Cars left under the trees can quickly become coated with a film of the syrup thus dropped from higher up. The ant/aphid "farming" process does not appear to cause any serious damage to the trees.

History

In Europe, ''Tilia'' trees are known to have reached ages measured in centuries, if not longer. A coppice of ''T. cordata'' in Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire, for example, is estimated to be 2,000 years old. In the courtyard of the Imperial Castle at Nuremberg is a ''Tilia'' which tradition says was planted by the Empress Cunigunde, the wife of Henry II of Germany. This would make the tree about nine hundred years old in 1900 when it was described. It looks ancient and infirm, but in 1900 was sending forth a few leaves on its two or three remaining branches and was, of course, cared for tenderly. The ''Tilia'' of Neuenstadt am Kocher in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was computed to be one thousand years old when it fell. The Alte Linde tree of Naters, Switzerland, is mentioned in a document in 1357 and described by the writer at that time as already "magnam" (huge). A plaque at its foot mentions that in 1155 a ''Tilia'' tree was already on this spot.

The excellence of the honey of far-famed Hybla was due to the ''Tilia'' trees that covered its sides and crowned its summit.

The name of Linnaeus, the great botanist, was derived from a ''Tilia'' tree.

''Tilia'' appears in the tertiary formations of Grinnell Land, Canada, at 82° north latitude, and in Spitsbergen, Norway. Sapporta believed that he found there the common ancestor of the ''Tilia'' species of Europe and America.

Uses

The ''Tilia'' is recommended as an ornamental tree when a mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired. The tree produces fragrant and nectar-producing flowers, the medicinal herb lime blossom. They are very important honey plants for beekeepers, producing a very pale but richly flavoured monofloral honey. The flowers are also used for herbal tea and tinctures; this kind of use is particularly popular in Europe and also used in North American herbal medicine practices.

''T. cordata'' is the preferred species for medical use, having a high concentration of active compounds. It is said to be a nervine, used by herbalists in treating restlessness, hysteria, and headaches. Usually, the double-flowered ''Tilia'' species are used to make perfumes. The leaf buds and young leaves are also edible raw. Tilia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on Tilia.

The timber of ''Tilia'' trees is soft and easily worked; it has very little grain and a density of 560 kg per cubic metre. It is a popular wood for model building and intricate carving. Especially in Germany, it was the classic wood for sculpture from the Middle Ages onwards and is the material for the elaborate altarpieces of Veit Stoss, Tilman Riemenschneider, and many others. Ease of working and good acoustic properties also make it popular for electric guitar and bass bodies and wind instruments such as recorders. In the past, it was typically used (along with Agathis) for less-expensive models. However, due to its better resonance at mid and high frequency, and better sustain than alder, it is now more commonly in use with the "superstrat" type of guitar. It can also be used for the neck because of its excellent material integrity when bent and ability to produce consistent tone without any dead spots, according to Parker Guitars. In the percussion industry, ''Tilia'' is sometimes used as a material for drum shells, both to enhance their sound and their aesthetics.

Tilia wood is known in the aquarium industry for its use as an an air diffuser inside of protein skimmers. Air pumped through the grain of the wood turns into consistently very fine bubbles (0.5-1.0mm) difficult to achieve with any other natural or man-made medium. However, the wood decomposes underwater much faster than ceramic air stones and must be replaced more frequently for maximum efficiency.

It is also the wood of choice for the window-blinds and shutters industries. Real wood blinds are often made from this lightweight but strong and stable wood, which is well suited to natural and stained finishes.

It is known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America. This name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as ''bast''. A very strong fibre is obtained from this, by peeling off the bark and soaking in water for a month, after which the inner fibres can be easily separated. Bast obtained from the inside of the bark of the ''Tilia'' tree has been used by the Ainu people of Japan to weave their traditional clothing, the attus. Similar fibres are obtained from other plants are also called bast, named after those from the ''Tilia'': see Bast fibre.

Medicine

Most medicinal research has focused on ''Tilia cordata'', although other species are also used medicinally and somewhat interchangeably. The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Limeflower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. The flowers, leaves, wood, and charcoal (obtained from the wood) are used for medicinal purposes. Active ingredients in the ''Tilia'' flowers include flavonoids (which act as antioxidants), volatile oils, and mucilaginous constituents (which soothe and reduce inflammation). The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.

''Tilia'' flowers are used medicinally for colds, cough, fever, infections, inflammation, high blood pressure, headache (particularly migraine), and as a diuretic (increases urine production), antispasmodic (reduces smooth muscle spasm along the digestive tract), and sedative. New evidence shows that the flowers may be hepatoprotective. The flowers were added to baths to quell hysteria, and steeped as a tea to relieve anxiety-related indigestion, irregular heartbeat, and vomiting. The leaves are used to promote sweating to reduce fevers. The wood is used for liver and gallbladder disorders and cellulitis (inflammation of the skin and surrounding soft tissue). That wood burned to charcoal is ingested to treat intestinal disorders and used topically to treat edema or infection such as cellulitis or ulcers of the lower leg.

Benzodiazepine like molecules have also been found in aqueous herbal extracts from medicinal South American/ Caribbean plants which has led to speculations that some natural BZDs may participate in sedative effects of certain traditional tea preparations, e. g., from Tilia spp.

Classification

The following list comprises those most widely accepted as species and cultivars.

''Tilia americana'' L. – Basswood, American Linden

''Tilia amurensis'' – Amur Lime, Amur Linden

''Tilia argentea'' – Silver Lime

''Tilia caroliniana'' – Carolina Basswood

''Tilia chinensis''

''Tilia chingiana'' Hu & W.C.Cheng

''Tilia cordata'' Mill. – Small-leaved Lime, Little-leaf Linden or Greenspire Linden

''Tilia dasystyla'' Steven

''Tilia euchlora'' – Caucasian Lime

''Tilia henryana'' Szyszyl. – Henry's Lime, Henry's Linden

''Tilia heterophylla'' Vent. – White Basswood

''Tilia hupehensis'' – Hubei Lime

''Tilia insularis''

''Tilia intonsa''

''Tilia japonica'' – Japanese Lime, Shina (When used as a laminate)

†''Tilia johnsoni'' Wolfe & Wehr Eocene; Washington and British Columbia

''Tilia kiusiana''

''Tilia mandshurica'' – Manchurian Lime

''Tilia maximowicziana''

''Tilia mexicana'' (''T. americana'' var. ''mexicana'')

''Tilia miqueliana''

''Tilia mongolica'' – Mongolian Lime, Mongolian Linden

''Tilia nasczokinii'' – Nasczokin's Lime, Nasczokin's Linden

''Tilia nobilis''

''Tilia occidentalis'' – West lime

''Tilia oliveri'' – Oliver's Lime

''Tilia paucicostata''

''Tilia platyphyllos'' Scop. – Large-leaved Lime

''Tilia rubra'' – Red Stem Lime (syn. ''T. platyphyllos'' var. ''rubra'')

''Tilia tomentosa'' Moench – Silver Lime, Silver Linden

''Tilia tuan''

Hybrids and cultivars

''Tilia × euchlora'' (''T. dasystyla × T. cordata'')

''Tilia × europaea'' – Common Lime (''T. cordata × T. platyphyllos''; syn. ''T. × vulgaris'')

''Tilia × petiolaris'' (''T. tomentosa × T. ?'')

''Tilia'' 'Flavescens' – Glenleven Linden (''T. americana × T. cordata'')

''Tilia'' 'Moltkei' (hybrid, unknown origin)

''Tilia'' 'Orbicularis' (hybrid, unknown origin)

''Tilia'' 'Spectabilis' (hybrid, unknown origin)

Cultural significance

Slavic mythology

In old Slavic mythology, the ''Tilia'' (''lipa'', as called in all Slavic languages) was considered a sacred tree. Particularly in Poland, many villages have a name "Święta Lipka" (or similar), which literally means "Holy Lime". To this day, the ''Tilia'' tree is a national emblem of Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and the Sorbs. ''Lipa'' gave name to the traditional Slavic name for the month of June (Croatian, ''lipanj'') or July (Polish, ''lipiec''). It is also the root for the German city of Leipzig, taken from the Sorbian name ''lipsk''. The Croatian currency, ''kuna'', consists of 100 ''lipa'', also meaning ''Tilia''; "lipa" was also a proposed name for Slovenian currency in 1990, however the name "tolar" ultimately prevailed. In the Slavic Orthodox Christian world, limewood was the preferred wood for panel icon painting. The icons by the hand of Andrei Rublev, including the Holy Trinity (Hospitality of Abraham), and The Savior, now in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, are painted on ''Tilia'' wood. ''Tilia'' wood was chosen for its ability to be sanded very smooth and for its resistance to warping once seasoned.

The tree also has cultural and spiritual significance in Hungary, where it is called ''hárs'' (''fa'').

Germanic mythology

The ''Tilia'' was also a highly symbolic and hallowed tree to the Germanic peoples in their native pre-Christian Germanic mythology.

Originally, local communities assembled not only to celebrate and dance under a ''Tilia'' tree, but to hold their judicial thing meetings there in order to restore justice and peace. It was believed that the tree would help unearth the truth. Thus the tree became associated with jurisprudence even after Christianization, such as in the case of the ''Gerichtslinde'', and verdicts in rural Germany were frequently returned ''sub tilia'' (under the ''Tilia'') until the Age of Enlightenment.

In the ''Nibelungenlied'', a medieval German work ultimately based on oral tradition recounting events amongst the Germanic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries, Siegfried gains his invulnerability by bathing in the blood of a dragon. While he did so, a single ''Tilia'' leaf sticks to him, leaving a spot on his body untouched by the blood and he thus has a single point of vulnerability.

The most notable street in Berlin, Germany is called ''Unter den Linden'' or ''Under the Tilias'', named after the ''Tilia'' trees lining the avenue/boulevard. In German folklore, the ''Tilia'' tree is the "tree of lovers."

Greek mythology

Homer, Horace, Virgil, and Pliny mention the ''Tilia'' tree and its virtues. As Ovid tells the old story of Baucis and Philemon, she was changed into a ''Tilia'' and he into an oak when the time came for them both to die.

Herodotus says:

Romantic symbol

A mediaeval love poem by Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170–c. 1230) starts with a reference to the ''Tilia'' tree:

{| |Under der linden

an der heide,

dâ unser zweier bette was,

dâ mugt ir vinden

schône beide

gebrochen bluomen unde gras.

vor dem wald in einem tal,

tandaradei,

schône sanc diu nahtegal. |Under the ''Tilia'' tree

on the open field,

where we two had our bed,

you still can see

lovely both

broken flowers and grass.

On the edge of the woods in a vale,

tandaradei,

sweetly sang the nightingale. |}

''Tilia'' trees play a significant motif in a number of poems written by Mihai Eminescu. An excerpt from his poem ''Mai am un singur dor'' (One Wish Alone Have I):

Pătrunză talanga	While softly rings
Al serii rece vânt,	The evening's cool wind
Deasupră-mi teiul sfânt	Above me the holy Tilia
Să-şi scuture creanga.	Shakes its branch.
		:— translation: M.G.Jiva

In 1979, the trees were featured in the song Gelato al Cioccolato on the album of the same name by Italian singer-songwriter Enzo Ghinazzi, also known as Pupo.

In 2003, the trees were featured in the popular song "''Dragostea Din Tei''" ("Love from ''Tilia'' Trees") by the Moldovan band O-Zone.

Literary references

A play called "The Linden Tree" (1947) was written by Bradford-born English novelist, playwright and broadcaster J.B. Priestley.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge features ''Tilia'' trees as an important symbol in his poem "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" (written 1797; first published 1800).

The short poems (Fraszki) of Polish poet Jan Kochanowski commonly feature ''Tilia'' trees, especially "Na Lipę" (To The Tilia Tree), published in 1584. Kochanowski was heavily influenced by the Czarnolas, or the Polish Black Forest, where the dominant tree species is ''Tilia''.

The ''Tilia'' tree is featured as a symbol of supernatural dread in Hannah Crafts' ''The Bondwoman's Narrative.''

A road lined with ''Tilia'' trees is cursed by the narrator of the censored poem, "Ich was ein chint so wolgetan" (I was such a lovely child), from the Carmina Burana.

A poem from Wilhelm Müller's ''Winterreise'' cycle of poems is called "Der Lindenbaum" (The Linden Tree). The cycle was later set to music by Franz Schubert.

Goethe's ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' features a ''Tilia'' tree throughout the novel, and the protagonist, Werther, is buried under the tree after his suicide.

''Tilia'' trees are featured in Tolstoy's ''War and Peace.''

In ''Swann's Way'', the first book of Proust's ''In Search of Lost Time'', the narrator dips a petite madeleine into a cup of ''Tilia'' blossom tea. The aroma and taste of cake and tea triggers his first conscious involuntary memory.

The band Bright Eyes has a song called "Lime Tree" on the album Cassadaga: "Under the eaves of that old Lime Tree I stood examining the fruit."

Prominently featured throughout Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk's ''The Museum of Innocence''.

''Tilia'' trees are a recurring theme in Romanian author Mihai Eminescu's poems. Upon his wish he was interred under one's shade.

A ''Tilia'' tree is prominent in the setting of Anton Chekhov's play ''The Seagull'' (Act II).

The song "Dragostea din tei" by Moldovan band O-zone features several references to linden trees.

A short story written by Herman Hesse, "The Three Linden Trees"

A song written by Joan Baez, "For Sasha", mentions the linden tree; from the album ''Honest Lullaby''

A poem from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, sung by the German witch Geli Tripping, mentions a linden tree:

"Though it’s another year, Though it’s another me, Under the rose is a drying tear, Under my linden tree… Love never goes away, Not if it’s really true, It can return by night, by day, Tender and green and new As the leaves from a linden tree, love, That I left with you."

Gallery

See also

International World War Peace Tree, a ''Tilia'' tree that stands as a sign of Germany's alliance with the United States

References

Category:Tilia Category:Medicinal plants Category:Honey plants

ar:زيزفون an:Tilia az:Cökə be:Ліпа bg:Липа ca:Til·ler cv:Çăка cs:Lípa (rod) da:Lind de:Linden (Botanik) et:Pärn myv:Пекше es:Tilia eo:Tilio eu:Ezki fa:نمدار fr:Tilia ga:Teile glk:نمدار (زیرفون) ko:피나무 hsb:Lipa hr:Lipa (biljka) io:Tilio ia:Tilia os:Сусхъæд‎ it:Tilia he:טיליה kv:Нинпу mrj:Пистӹ lt:Liepa (augalas) hu:Hárs (növénynemzetség) mdf:Пяше nl:Linde (geslacht) no:Lindeslekten mhr:Писте pl:Lipa pt:Tilia ro:Tei qu:Tilu ru:Липа sc:Tilia sl:Lipa sr:Липа fi:Lehmukset sv:Lindsläktet tr:Ihlamur udm:Беризь uk:Липа vi:Chi Đoạn zh:椴树

Susun Weed is an American herbalist, author, and director of the Wise Woman Center located near Woodstock in New York State. She is known for her writing and teaching of what she describes as the "Wise Woman Way" of herbalism. Ms. Weed is the author of the Wise Woman Herbal Series. She believes Herbal Medicine is People's Medicine. Susun S. Weed is the voice of the Wise Woman Tradition, a founding grandmother of the herbal renaissance and the originator of the concept of complementary medicine.

Biography

Susun Weed began investigating the benefits of herbal medicine in 1965 when she was pregnant with her daughter, Justine Adelaide Swede, and living in Manhattan. She has no official diplomas; she left high school in her junior year to pursue studies in mathematics and artificial intelligence at UCLA and subsequently left UCLA during her junior year. She continued to study herbalism and the issues surrounding women's health independently with such herbalists as Juliette de Bairacli Levy.

In 1985 Weed wrote her first book, ''Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year''. It was published as the first title of Ash Tree Publishing in 1986, and is currently in print-April 2011. It was followed by ''Healing Wise'' in 1989, ''New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way'' in 1992, and ''Breast Cancer? Breast Health! The Wise Woman Way'' in 1996. Weed is a regular contributing writer to the Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women's Studies, and a featured columnist at ''SageWoman Magazine'', a publication devoted to woman-centered spirituality.

In addition to her work as a writer, Ms. Weed offers an apprentice training program in which she oversees the work of students at her farm, teaches students via correspondence, and coordinates the activities of the Wise Woman Center near Woodstock, New York. Weed is a High Priestess of Dianic Wicca, a member of the Sisterhood of the Shields, and a Peace Elder.

Weed's teaching encompasses herbal medicine, ethnobotany, pharmacognosy, psychology of healing, ecoherbalism, nutrition, and women's health issues. She has taught and lectured extensively at medical schools, hospital wellness centers, breast cancer centers, midwifery schools, naturopathic colleges, and shamanic training centers, as well as at conferences. Weed has appeared on television and radio, including National Public Radio and NBC News.

Works

External links

Susun Weed website

Ash Tree Publishing

Learning Herbs interview with Susan Weed (video)

Raw Food vs. Cooked Food debate (video)

The Wise Woman Tradition (video)

Breast Health website

Menopause-Metamorphosis website

Chilbearing Year website

Down There Wise Woman Way website

Nourishing Herbal Infusions website

Category:Herbalists Category:Living people Category:People in alternative medicine Category:People in complementary medicine Category:American writers