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LIME

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Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 694 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LIME ,1 or See also:

LINDEN. The lime trees, See also:species of Tilia, are See also:familiar See also:timber trees with sweet-scented, honeyed See also:flowers, which are See also:borne on a See also:common peduncle proceeding from the See also:middle of a See also:long bract. The genus, which gives the name to the natural See also:order Tiliaceae, contains about ten species of trees, natives of the See also:north temperate See also:zone. The See also:general name Tilia europaea, the name given by See also:Linnaeus to the See also:European lime, includes several well-marked sub-species, often regarded as distinct species. These are: (1) the small-leaved lime, T. parvifolia (or T. cordata), probably See also:wild in See also:woods in See also:England and also wild throughout See also:Europe, except in the extreme See also:south-See also:east, and See also:Russian See also:Asia. (2) T. intermedia, the common lime, which is widely planted in See also:Britain but not wild there, has a less northerly See also:distribution than T. See also:cord eta, from which it differs in its somewhat larger leaves and downy See also:fruit. (3) The large-leaved lime, T. platyphyllos (or T. grandifolia), occurs only as an introduction in Britain, and is wild in Europe south of See also:Denmark. It differs from the other two limes in its larger leaves, often 4 in. across, which are downy beneath, its downy twigs and its prominently ribbed fruit. The lime sometimes acquires a See also:great See also:size; one is recorded in See also:Norfolk as being 16 yds. in circumference, and See also:Ray mentions one of the same girth. The famous linden See also:tree which gave the See also:town of Neuenstadt in See also:Wurttemberg the name of " Neuenstadt an der grossen Linden " was 9 ft. in See also:diameter. The lime is a very favourite tree. It is an See also:object of beauty in t This is an altered See also:form of O.

Eng. and M. Eng. See also:

lind ; cf. Ger. Linde, cognate with Gr. tXL.rsi, the See also:silver See also:fir. " Linden " in See also:English means properly " made of lime—or lind—See also:wood," and the transference to the tree is due to the Ger. Lindenbaum. the See also:spring when the delicately transparent See also:green leaves are bursting from the See also:protection of the See also:pink and See also:white stipules, which have formed the bud-scales, and retains its fresh green during See also:early summer. Later, the fragrance of its flowers, See also:rich in See also:honey, attracts innumerable bees; in the autumn. the foliage becomes a clear yellow but soon falls. Among the many famous avenues of limes may be mentioned that which gave the name to one of the best-known ways in See also:Berlin, " Unter den Linden," and the See also:avenue at Trinity See also:College, See also:Cambridge. The economic value of the tree chiefly lies in the inner bark or See also:liber (See also:Lat. for bark), called bast, and the wood. The former was used for See also:paper and mats and for tying garlands by the ancients (Od. i. 38; See also:Pliny xvi.

14. 25, See also:

xxiv. 8. 33). Bast mats are now made chiefly in See also:Russia, the bark being cut in long strips, when the liber is easily separable from the corky superficial layer. It is then plaited into mats about 2 yds. square; 14,000,000 come to Britain annually, chiefly from See also:Archangel. The wood is used by carvers, being soft and See also:light, and by architects in framing the See also:models of buildings. Turners use it for light See also:bowls, &c. T. americana (See also:bass-wood) is one of the most common trees in the forests of See also:Canada and extends into the eastern and See also:southern See also:United States. It is sawn into See also:lumber and under the name of white-wood used in the manufacture of wooden See also:ware, cheap See also:furniture, &c., and also for paper pulp (C. S. See also:Sargent, See also:Silva of North See also:America).

It was cultivated by See also:

Philip See also:Miller at See also:Chelsea in 1752. The common lime was well known to the ancients. See also:Theophrastus says the leaves are sweet and used for See also:fodder for most kinds of See also:cattle. Pliny alludes to the use of the liber and wood, and describes the tree as growing in the See also:mountain-valleys of See also:Italy (xvi. 3o). See also Virg. Geo. i. 173, &c.; Ov. Met. viii. 621, x. 92. Allusion to the lightness of the wood is made in.Aristoph.

Birds, 1378. For the sweet lime (Citrus Limetta or Citrus acida) and lime-juice, see See also:

LEMON.

End of Article: LIME

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