silver linden (Tilia tomentosa)

The silver lime tree (Tilia tomentosa), also called Hungarian lime tree, is a tree of the Tiliaceae family, or Malvaceae, subfamily Tilioideae. It is a species native to the eastern Mediterranean basin. Resistant to pollution, it is often used as a street tree in European cities. Native to the shores of the Black Sea and the Caucasus, it is present in many urban parks. The silver lime tree can reach 28 meters in height, 12 meters at 20 years old. It grows quickly and is very resistant to drought and pollution. Its flowering takes place at the end of July. Its flowers are arranged in false umbels of 2-6 on a leafy bract. Its oblique heart-shaped leaves have a pubescent surface (tomentose, cottony) and are silvery on the underside.

The dried flowers, with sedative properties, are used in herbal tea, alone or in a mixture. The leaves are emollient. An infusion made from T. tomentosa flowers is antispasmodic, diaphoretic and sedative. Of all the lime trees, the silver one is the richest in this calming substance which makes us take its flowers in herbal teas in the evening before going to bed.

Gemmotherapy, an unconventional medicine, uses its buds as a drainer for the nervous system. Ecotoxicity for apids (bumblebees, bees) In Europe, when silver lime trees flower, we sometimes notice quantities of bumblebees (particularly from the Bombus terrestris group) and dead bees under the trees. The flowers of this variety have for several decades often been cited as being very toxic to bees. The bee Apis mellifera carnica would not, however, be a victim of the flowering of the silver lime tree which is part of its original environment, the Carpathians.