Tilia tomentosa

Silver linden (Tilia tomentosa)

The silver linden (Tilia tomentosa ) is a plant of the genus Linden (Tilia ) in the subfamily of the linden family ( Tilioideae ).

Description

Vegetative characteristics

The silver lime is a deciduous, deciduous tree reaching stature heights of 25 to 30 meters. The canopy is very dense; it is curved regularly spherical in young trees, older puts them at very deep, is wider spreading and pulled up and developed very presentable especially when individual trees. The trunk is straight. The branches set low on the trunk and go radiating upwards and are only slightly to the side or back bent.

The bark of younger trees is greenish - gray and fairly smooth; with increasing age, a fine, ultra-thin strips and furrows pattern developed. The bark of the branches is lighter or darker gray-green, a few irregularly back and forth and very showy in early summer and densely covered with white, felty hairs.

The greenish, usually more hairy bud is oval with a rounded top and has only two bud scales of different sizes.

The alternate arranged on the branches leaves are divided into petiole and leaf blade. The petiole is 2 to 3.5 inches long. The simple leaf blade is rounded outline with slender, elongated, hinged top and usually more wrong - heart-shaped Spreitengrund and therefore appears asymmetrical. The leaf margin is serrated or toothed, the teeth are fairly uniform and mostly pointing in the direction Spreitenspitze. The plump leaf blade has a uniform dark green, dull, and slightly wrinkled - rough upper and lower surfaces appear very bright or almost silvery due to its densely white - tomentose pubescence; therefore also stirred the trivial name silver lime and the epithet tomentosa.

Generative features

The flowering period is in July. The 6-9 flowers are in drooping, panicled, trugdoldigen inflorescences. More than half of the inflorescence axis is fused with a silvery - white bract ( spathe ).

The very fragrant, hermaphrodite flowers are radial symmetry and fünfzählig. The five petals are bright yellow. The anthers are golden.

The fruit is closing at a diameter of 8 to 11 mm pudgy - globose with somewhat warty surface and has indistinct protruding ribs.

Occurrence

The silver lime is native to southeastern Europe and Asia Minor and occurs there as a forest -forming tree in appearance.

Use

The silver lime is used due to their decorative value since the 19th century as an ornamental plant in parks and along streets. She has proven to be fairly resistant to dust and exhaust gases from industry, transport and households.

In beekeeping the silver linden like all Linden (up to 77%) and its high sugar value ( up to 5 mg of sugar / day per flower) an estimated costume due to the very high sugar content of their nectar.

The silver lime is also often visited by bumblebees, which are virtually unable to late flowering time in July other food. However, the se abundant nectar produced is no longer sufficient, so that you can find quite a lot of dead flower visitors among flowering trees. It used to be therefore assumed that Linden would be toxic to these animals, such as the production of dangerous for bees sugar mannose. Meanwhile, however, demonstrated that the Linden for the bumblebees are non-toxic.

Documents

• Gunter Steinbach (ed.) Trees ( Steinbach nature guide ). Mosaik Verlag GmbH, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-576-10554-9.
• Ruprecht Duell, Herfried Kutzelnigg: Pocket Dictionary of Plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common central European species in the portrait. 7, revised and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1.