小叶椴种

种名cordata意为心形的。

小叶椴树高可达20到35米，干粗可达直径1到1.5米，树叶圆状或三角-椭圆状，4到8厘米长和宽，一般无毛（阔叶椴相反一般叶上有毛），只有在叶脉中轴上有少许棕色的毛。初夏开花，花小，黄绿色，有很浓的气味，易招引蜂。

小叶椴和阔叶椴的杂交品种是西洋椴。

种植、使用和象征

小叶椴在其欧洲家乡经常被用做路边的遮荫树，17世纪和18世纪初许多城市规划者将它们种在林荫路边。最著名的例子是德国柏林的菩提树下大街（德语Unter den Linden，其中Linde就是“椴树”，但被误译作“菩提树”）。

在北美洲它常被用来取代叶子比较大、木纹比较粗糙的美洲椴树。

只用椴树花酿的蜂蜜相当高价。

小叶椴的白色的、细腻的木头是精巧的木雕的传统材料。

小叶椴是捷克、斯洛伐克、拉脱维亚的国树。

Tilia cordata, the small-leaved lime or small-leaved linden, is a species of tree in the family Malvaceae, native to much of Europe. Its other common names include little-leaf or littleleaf linden, or traditionally in South East England, pry or pry tree. Its range extends from Britain and Scandinavia through mainland Europe to the Caucasus and West Asia. In the south of its range, it is restricted to high elevations.

Description

Tilia cordata is a deciduous tree growing to 20–40 m (66–131 ft) tall, diameter one-third to one-half the height, with a trunk up to 1 m (3 ft) diameter. The largest known trunk circumference was a specimen in Närke, Sweden, that measured 8.35 m (27.4 ft) circumference at chest height. Some lime trees in Germany are said to be over 1000 years old. The bark is smooth and grayish when young, and firm with vertical ridges and horizontal fissures when older. The crown is rounded in a formal oval to pyramidal shape. Branching is upright and increases in density with age. The leaves are alternately arranged, rounded to triangular-ovate, 3–8 cm (1.2–3.1 in) long and broad, mostly hairless (unlike the related Tilia platyphyllos) except for small tufts of brown hair in the leaf vein axils – the leaves are distinctively heart-shaped. The buds are alternate, pointed egg-shaped, and have red scales. It has no terminal bud.

Ecology

The trees favour loamy soil sites, but can also be found on sandy, infertile soils and are not thought to be drought resistant. Dormant shoots of T. cordata can resist winter frost temperatures as low as −34 °C (−29 °F).

In Britain, T. cordata, traditionally called pry, is considered an indicator of ancient woodland and is becoming increasingly rare. Owing to its rarity, a number of woods have been given SSSI status. Cocklode Wood, part of the Bardney Limewoods in Lincolnshire, is the best surviving spread of medieval small-leaved limes in England. A similar site is Shrawley Wood in Worcestershire. Small-leaved lime was once regarded as holy and good for carving.

Trees in northern England were found to have established when the climate was warmer and have adapted to the cooling climate. Paleobotanical analysis of tree pollen preserved in peat deposits demonstrates that T. cordata was present as a woodland tree in the southern Lake District c. 3100 BC. In spite of the late migration of T.

Pests and diseases

The tree is fairly disease-resistant, though a common problem is leaf scorch where planted on dry soils, but leaf scorch is not a long-term problem, as the leaves are lost in the autumn. Pests include Japanese beetles, aphids, lace bugs, linden jewel beetles, and various species of moths, such as Lymantria dispar dispar (gypsy moth). This moth is one of the top 100 invasive species in North America, introduced by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, and citizens are encouraged to remove gypsy moth egg masses and cocoons from tree bark to help prevent the spread of this species.

Cultivation and uses

Tilia cordata is widely grown as an ornamental tree. It was much planted to form avenues in 17th- and early 18th-century landscape planning. A famous example is Unter den Linden in Berlin. It is also widely cultivated in North America as a substitute for the native Tilia americana (American linden or basswood) which has a larger leaf, coarser in texture; there, it has been renamed "little-leaf linden". It is popular as a shade tree with its dense canopy, as an ornamental tree with its architectural shape, and as a street tree. In the US, T. cordata has been planted in Wellesley, Massachusettes; Modesto, California; Chicago, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Atlanta, Georgia as street trees. Europe has espaliered trees owing to their ability to survive heavy pruning. T. cordata is an easy tree to train for bonsai when the training is not done all at once. Letting the tree recoup in between sessions over a period of several months creates a healthy, good-looking miniature tree. Prior to the advent of firearms, it was also commonly used for making shields (as referenced in Beowulf).

Cultural significance

Tilia cordata is the national tree of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, and one of two national trees in Latvia.

The leaf of Tilia cordata is also considered a national symbol of Slovenia.