Linden Flowers

Most of us New Yorkers are beginning to lose our senses of humor about the weather we've been having. Today's June 19 and I'm pretty sure it's rained 16 days this month. Or at least, it feels like we've had rain 16 days this month. I am not at all a fan of cool weather, nor rain. I prefer my Junes warm and sunny, even a bit hot. But yesterday, in my own way, I succumbed to the climate -- I gave up my own personal stance of not acknowledging the rain -- and took some photos of Tilia tomentosa in the deluge.



Naturally very few of these turned out, and while I intensely snapped photos of the blossoms, ignoring the rain, I got a few askance looks from passersby, briefly noting and cataloguing me as another Eccentric New Yorker.


No matter. They're pretty flowers aren't they? The flower structure you're looking at is called a cyme. Cymes are stems from which several small flowers branch. You can also see that the stamens are the showiest part of the flower. The large green tongue above the cymes is a bract.

This is my third post on Tilia and I've yet to really get into the etymology of the name. But, I will save that for a rainy day (as, um, it's not raining right now, right at this second).

Lindens

Here are some students, inspecting a Tilia species from two weeks ago. If you aren't familiar with Tilia tomentosa (Silver Linden) or Tilia cordata (Littleleaf Linden), then you may have encountered the trees recently and wondered if their tiny flowers were accountable for a subtly pungent fragrance.


Lindens are great trees and at first, it may be difficult to tell the difference between these two species, but the more you look at them, the more distinct they become. Littleleaf Linden, eponymously, has small, medium-green leaves and a horizontal branching habit. Silver Linden leaves are a darker with silvery undersides and the branches seem to sprout from the trunk like a bouquet of wildflowers. It's interesting -- at least to me -- to realize that the more pendulous habit of Tilia tomentosa is partly due to the fact that the leaves are larger and thus, heavier. The added mass, no doubt, pulls the branches closer to earth than Tilia cordata.

There is also American Linden (Tilia americana) or Basswood. Their leaves can be up to 8" long and the tree itself is much larger than the other two. Consequently, the habit of Basswood is even more pendulous than Silver Linden, and all the branches eventually touch the ground.


As you can see above, these leaves aren't as silvery as most Silver Lindens. But my bet is that this is still Tilia tomentosa, due to the bloom time and the fact the leaves are no more than 5" long.

There was once also a Tilia heterophylla, which has now been absorbed by the Tilia americana species. There's also the possibility that this is that plant.

If anyone has any concrete information on this tree (it's behind the Met, among the Saucer Magnolias and Corktrees), please let me know. I'd love to have a definitive ID.

Littleleaf Linden

Emerging Littleleaf Linden (Tilia cordata) leaves on Prince Street:


The branching habit of this tree is so unique - so utterly recognizable in the winter - but I can't quite get the right words to describe it.

The young bark is really shiny, and though the lateral branches sprout from the trunk in an upward, arcing habit, once the canopy opens up, they sit in horizontal planes.

The buds here are pretty big as they are about to leaf out, but all winter, they are noticeable and seem to punctuate the ends of twigs. Again, you see the arcing shape repeat here. Whenever I walk under them, I appreciate the lacy look of these canopies.

Of course, in leaf the tree is pretty remarkable. They have fragrant flowers in the summer time (rare for a street tree) and have a lovely yellow fall color. Lindens (or Lime Trees, as they are also called) are very popular in Europe as well. There are two clipped allees of them in Paris, at the Palais Royale.