Small-leaved Lime 

leaves

The trees are generally called lime in Britain and linden in North America. Both names are derived from the Germanic root lind. The modern forms in English derive from linde or linne in Anglo Saxon and old Norse, and in Britain the word transformed more recently to the modern British form lime. In the United States, the modern German name Linden (pl), from the same root, became more common, partly to avoid confusion with any other uses of the name. Neither the name nor the tree is related to the citrus fruit called "lime" (Citrus aurantifolia, family Rutaceae). Another widely-used common name used in North America is Basswood, derived from bast, the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below).

Tilia species are large deciduous trees, reaching typically 20-40 m tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6-20 cm across, and are found through the north temperate regions. The exact number of species is subject to considerable uncertainty, as many or most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation; the following list comprises those most widely accepted.

flowers	leaves	fruit	ripen	fall
July	Apr/May	Sept