Lime tree
| Tilia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tilia tomentosa, cultivated at the Morton Arboretum near Chicago | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Malvales |
| Family: | Malvaceae |
| Subfamily: | Tilioideae |
| Genus: |
Tilia L. |
| Species | |
|
About 30 |
|
About 30
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Commonly called lime trees in the British Isles, they are not related to the lime fruit. Other names include linden, and basswood for the North American species. The genus occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but the greatest species diversity is found in Asia. Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research summarised by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has resulted in the incorporation of this genus, and of most of the previous family, into the Malvaceae.
Tilia species are mostly large, deciduous trees, reaching typically 20 to 40 metres (65 to 130 ft) tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6 to 20 centimetres (2 1⁄4 to 7 3⁄4 in) across. As with elms, the exact number of species is uncertain, as many if not most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation. Limes are hermaphroditic, having perfect flowers with both male and female parts, pollinated by insects.
The genus is generally called lime or linden in Britain and linden, lime, or basswood in North America.
"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.
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Wikipedia