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Winter twig
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The alternate
leaves are heart-shaped, tapering abruptly to a fine tip
and are 3-6 cm long. They are dark green, shiny and
hairless above and with tufts of rusty hairs only at the
junction of the veins
below. The margins have sharp teeth and the leaf-stalks
are 15-30 mm long.
ID
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Small-leaved
Lime is a deciduous
tree, up to 25 m in height, with a main trunk often
forking above and a smooth grey bark which breaks up
into plates later. It is a native of woods on deep, fertile,
base-rich soils.
The
flowers are arranged in erect or spreading groups of
4-10 on a long stalk with a linear,
green, leaf-like bract attached.
The
5-petalled, sweet-smelling, yellow-white flowers are
10-12 mm across and appear in early July.
The
group of round fruits are neither ribbed nor hairy. They
are dispersed together with the leafy bracts in October.
- The
wood does not warp and is often used for keys and
sounding boards of pianos and organs.
- The
wood is soft and even-grained, ideal for carving and
was used by one of England's best known carvers,
Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721).
- It
was formerly regarded as a holy tree and planted to
protect people from evil spirits.
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