name: Small-Leaf Linden
flavor_db_name_variants: smallleaf linden
source: foodb
status: draft
food_db_id: Small-leaf linden
id: 185
name_scientific: Tilia cordata
description: Tilia cordata (Small-leaved Lime, occasionally Small-leaved Linden or Little-leaf Linden) is a species of Tilia native to much of Europe and western Asia, north to southern Great Britain (north to about Durham), central Scandinavia, all over Romania, east to central Russia, and south to central Spain, Italy, Bulgaria, Turkey, and the Caucasus; in the south of its range it is restricted to high altitudes. It is a deciduous tree growing to 20-38 m tall, with a trunk up to 1-2 m diameter. The leaves are alternately arranged, rounded to triangular-ovate, 3-8 cm long and broad, mostly hairless (unlike the related Tilia platyphyllos) except for small tufts of brown hair in the leaf vein axils - the leaves are distinctively heart-shaped. The small yellow-green hermaphrodite flowers are produced in clusters of five to eleven in early summer with a leafy yellow-green subtending bract, have a rich, heavy scent; the trees are much visited by bees. The fruit is a dry nut-like drupe 6–7 mm long and 4 mm broad, downy at first becoming smooth at maturity, and (unlike T. platyphyllos) not ribbed. The Linden honey is considered to be valuable in both nutricional and medical aspects. It readily hybridises with Tilia platyphyllos; the hybrid is named Tilia × europaea (syn. T. × vulgaris). In Britain, it is considered an indicator of ancient woodland, and is becoming increasingly rare.
itis_id: 505507
wikipedia_id: Tilia cordata
picture_file_name: 185.jpg
picture_content_type: image/jpeg
picture_file_size: 53411
picture_updated_at: 2012-04-20T09:30:07.000Z
legacy_id: 196
food_group: Herbs and Spices
food_subgroup: Herbs
food_type: Type 1
created_at: 2011-02-09T00:37:24.000Z
updated_at: 2019-05-14T18:04:18.000Z
creator_id: null
updater_id: null
export_to_afcdb: false
category: specific
ncbi_taxonomy_id: 172266
export_to_foodb: true
public_id: FOOD00185