Features

Tree

Leaf

Blossom

Fruit

The small-leaved lime (Tilia cordata) is a large tree from the Malvaceae family with heart-shaped leaves, a tall trunk, and sturdy branches. Lime trees have existed for about 50 million years, as evidenced by fossil lime leaves from the Tertiary period. Small-leaved limes can live for over 1000 years and develop trunks with a diameter of almost two metres. A proverb states that they grow for 300 years, stand for 300 years, and then vanish for 300 years.

Old lime trees in cities, villages, and settlements are contemporary witnesses of long past times. They served as village or courtyard trees and were used as meeting points for dances, peace negotiations, communication, and official announcements. They were also used as "legal trees" to mediate, settle disputes and render judgments (judicium sub tilia, "court under the lime tree").

In Switzerland, the Linn lime (now about 670 years old) and the Murten lime (planted in 1476) are two historically significant trees. After the Battle of Murten, a messenger brought a lime branch to Freiburg to announce the victory. Today's lime tree in Freiburg comes from a descendant of the original Murten lime and commemorates the victory of 1476 as well as the accession of Freiburg and Solothurn to the Swiss Confederation in 1481.

Lime trees have high ecological value. Their deep and finely branched root system stabilises the forest soil, and their quickly decomposing leaves improve the soil by enriching it with protein and lime. The leaves are also a popular food for butterfly caterpillars, such as the lime hawk-moth (Mimas tiliae).

The flowers of the small-leaved lime are an important food source for honey bees and bumblebees. The sweet flower scent attracts pollinators, especially in the evening when the fragrance becomes particularly intense. Besides nectar, honey bees also process tree sap and honeydew from sap sucking insects into lime honey. However, the so called "lime blossom honey" should only be obtained from lime tree flowers.

Lime wood is flexible, easily splittable and formable, making it popular among wood turners and carvers, in various crafts such as toy making, hat shaping, shoe and prosthesis manufacturing, as well as for musical instruments, cuckoo clocks, flat brushes and chess pieces. In the Middle Ages, lime wood was used as "Lignum sacrum" (sacred wood) to carve religious figures and altars. Additionally, lime bark was used by pile dwellers for binding tools and weaving mats, and lime wood can be processed into fine-grained charcoal.