The lime tree is a tree that has been closely linked to human history for centuries. It provides shade, comfort and community and valuable tea or honey from the flowers. But what about the fruits? Let's track them down.

The small nuts of the lime tree are edible

What the linden tree offers us

The linden tree is one of the most common trees - with its role as a meeting center on village squares, as an avenue border or as a light source of shade in parks and gardens, it has always been a faithful companion to people. Its lovely, fragrant blossoms, which appear from around May to July, are a sensual and healing gift of the linden tree - a tasty tea that drives away colds and promotes sleep can be prepared from it, and beekeepers let their bees use it to make one of the most popular types of honey. All these are the well-known things that we get as gifts from the Linde tree:

  • Classic center for conviviality (village tree)
  • friendly shade giver
  • avenue edging
  • fragrant flowers for tea and honey

But the fruits can also be useful to humans. Many think that after flowering, the linden tree has been grazed for the season. But far from it. Although it is less well known, the fruits of the linden tree are edible. So you can definitely be pulled out of the shadow of the popular flowers! But first let's talk about biology.

Appearance and other characteristics of the fruit

The fruits that form on the linden tree after they have faded are nut fruits that appear in small, round shapes. Depending on the type of lime tree, the fruits look a little different - and not all of them are really edible. All linden fruits are characterized by a narrow bract - this serves as a sort of flying sail, with the help of which the ripe fruit is to be carried further away. This expands the distribution radius of the lime tree.

Here is an overview of the fruits of the most common species in this country:

small-leaved lime

The fruits of the large-leaved summer linden are pentagonal and spherical to elongated and reach a length of about one centimeter. They have a greenish-yellowish, slightly grayish color and are covered with felt.

small-leaved lime

The nuts of the small-leaved lime are brown and also covered with felt. Their consistency is much softer than that of the summer linden fruits - especially when they are young, they are easy to eat with their oily pulp. Basically, the softness of the fruit is a reliable indicator of edibility - even with the many crossbreeds in the wild.

silver linden

The fruits of the silver linden with their silvery light undersides of leaves are light green and completely spherical.

Crimean lime tree

The color of the fruits of the Crimean lime is similar to that of the fruits of the small-leaved lime, greenish-brownish-greyish. The size is also similar, but the shape is a bit rounder.

Propagation via the fruits

Of course, the lime tree also reproduces generatively via the seeds contained in the fruit. However, it also has other methods up its sleeve that it can use to reproduce, such as vegetatively via budding or root suckers. With a lot of patience, a linden tree can also be grown from a seed.

Category:

Trees