LARGE-LEAVED LIME – Tilia platyphyllos: [ 48 ]
The rarest of the native limes with dark, grey-brown bark which develops flaky plates as it ages. The grey-green twigs look reddish in sunlight and the heart shaped leaves are hairy all over. Green-yellow flowers contain male and female parts and hang in clusters of up to 10. After insect pollination smooth, round, fruits develop. Lime leaves attract aphids and their predators. Flowers provide nectar and pollen and bees also drink the honey dew produced by the aphids. Caterpillars of the lime hawk, peppered and vapourer moth also eat lime leaves. The wood is used to make piano keys as it doesn’t warp, and the bark was traditionally used to make rope.
The rarest of the native limes with dark, grey-brown bark which develops flaky plates as it ages. The grey-green twigs look reddish in sunlight and the heart shaped leaves are hairy all over. Green-yellow flowers contain male and female parts and hang in clusters of up to 10. After insect pollination smooth, round, fruits develop. Lime leaves attract aphids and their predators. Flowers provide nectar and pollen and bees also drink the honey dew produced by the aphids. Caterpillars of the lime hawk, peppered and vapourer moth also eat lime leaves. The wood is used to make piano keys as it doesn’t warp, and the bark was traditionally used to make rope.
