25. Chap. 25. (14.)-Two Varieties Of The Linden-Tree.

CHAP. 25. (14.)—TWO VARIETIES OF THE LINDEN-TREE.

In the linden-tree the male[1] and the female are totally different. In the male the wood is hard and knotty, of a redder hue, and with a stronger smell; the bark, too, is thicker, and, when taken off, has no flexibility. The male bears neither seed nor blossom as the female does, the trunk of which is thicker, and the wood white and of excellent quality. It is a singular[2] thing, but no animal will touch the fruit of this tree, although the juice of the leaves and the bark is sweet. Between the bark and the wood there are a number of thin coats, formed by the union of numerous fine membranes; of these they make those bands[3] which are known to us as "tiliæ." The finer membranes are called "philyræ," and are rendered famous by the honourable mention that the ancients have made of them as ribbons for wreaths[4] and garlands. The wood of this tree is proof against the attacks of worms:[5] it is of moderate height[6] only, but of very considerable utility.

1. There is no such distinction in the linden or lime, as the flowers are hermaphroditical. They are merely two varieties: the male of Pliny being the Tilia microphylla of Decandolles, and a variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus; and the female being the Tilia platyphyllos, another variety of the Tilia Europæa of Linnæus.

2. Not at all singular, Fée says, the fruit being dry and insipid.

3. In France these cords are still made, and are used for well-ropes, wheat-sheafs, &c. In the north of France, too, brooms are made of the outer bark, and the same is the case in Westphalia.

4. See B. xxi. c. 4. Ovid, Fasti, B. v. 1. 337, speaks of the revellers at drunken banquets binding their hair with the philyra.

5. "Teredo." If he means under this name to include the tinea as well, the assertion is far too general, as this wood is eaten away by insects, though more slowly than the majority of the non-resinous woods. It is sometimes perforated quite through by the larva of the byrrhus, our deathwatch.

6. This is incorrect. It attains a very considerable height, and sometimes an enormous size. The trunk is known to grow to as much as forty or fifty feet in circumference.