59. Silver Linden

Specimen Size: 24.7ft Tall, 9.5in in diameter.

Location: Just north of the Nanoengineering Building, on a patch of lawn between the building and NE Grant Lane.

Historical Background: A member of the Malvaceae family, Linden trees are related to a variety of plants well known to humans in everyday use, such as cotton plants and cacao. Although less known than these truly famous cousins, the Lindens are a well appreciated group of trees with widespread distribution and use in human landscapes and culture. Commonly planted in human made landscapes, the species has multiple cultivars accentuating different traits it possesses to meet an aesthetic or practical goal set by our species (such as color, drought tolerance, or fast growth). The Silver Linden is also extremely effective at removing pollution from the air, the fine hairs on its leaves trapping particulate matter. This means that this species is extremely valuable to human health within our cities, especially when planted strategically along roadways and near other major sources of pollution.

Flowers of the species are greatly enjoyed by a variety of pollinators, and their scent is pleasant for those enjoying some time in the shade of these trees. The trees are also wonderfully melliferous (meaning they yield excellent honey), and when given the opportunity bees will preferentially choose the nectar of Tilia above most other producers. Lindens are directly useful to humans as a food source as well. The leaves of this tree are edible (though should be harvested away from sources of pollution), and taste best in early spring when just emerging. The nutlets of the species may also be roasted and powdered to create a substance reminiscent of cocoa powder (recall that this is a relative of the Cacao Tree)! The Silver Linden also produces a fine grained wood that is well appreciated for carving and crafting, and is cited by some as producing medicinal benefits including relieving insomnia, melancholy, and anxiety.

The latin name of this genus, Tilia, is derived from the ptelea (Elm) and tillai (Poplar), and translates to have a meaning of “broad” (as in broad-leafed). The scientific name, tomentosa, translates to “covered with soft wooly hairs”. In the United States, Linden trees are referred to as Basswood, while in the UK they are often referred to as Lime Trees. Historically in Germany, justice for crimes was meted out under Linden Trees in front of a crowd. Lindens feature in the Nibelungenlied, considered as a founding legend of the German States, where the story’s protagonist Siegfried is born under and killed beneath a Linden. 

Native Range: This species originally hails from the Balkin states, from the Ukraine down into Greece, and east into Turkey.

Identifying Features: The heart shaped leaves of this species are a dark glossy green on top and silvery-white below, thus the common name. A moderately sized deciduous tree, its thick foliage is known to catch the wind and ripple in such a way that the contrasting dark and light of its leaves create a truly lovely effect. The fragrant pale yellow flowers of this species in spring give way to distinctive round hard fruiting bodies, clustered together at the end of a long stalk which is sheathed by an oblong leaflike bract that is characteristic of all Linden species.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: A moderately sized species with crown shapes ranging from rounded to pyramidal, and generally achieving heights of between 50 and 70ft when mature (15-21m). A spreading species, the crown usually grows out to cover an area of 40-60ft (12-18m), with dense foliage.

2. Leaves: The leaves of Lindens are cordate (heart-shaped), emerging in an alternate pattern from the branches. The Silver Linden bears glossy green leaves with fuzzy silvery-white undersides, with the margins heavily serrated. These leaves vary in size but grow up to 4-inches (10cm) in length.

3. Bark: When young, the smooth light gray bark is an attractive quality of this species. In its more mature state, the bark is a stately light gray in color and furrowed in tight vertical ridges.

4. Reproductive Bodies: The flowers of this species are a yellow-white color and appear in midsummer in clusters of 5-10 and a stalk sheathed in a downy bract. These turn to grayish-tan nutlets by the end of the summer, maintaining their clustered nature and the distinctive bract, which in some cases can act as a bit of a sail to carry seeds of some Tilia on the wind.