Limeflowers from the Linden Tree
The name ‘lime’ evolved from Middle English word ‘lind’. Now commonly referred to as Lime trees, and valued for their limeflowers (actually the flower and bract gathered together), historical and folk references to this native tree will typically use the term Linden.
For example, Herman Hesse tells a tale of ‘The Three Linden Trees’ which begins:
“More than three hundred years ago, three splendid old linden trees stood on the green grass in the cemetery next to the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Berlin. They were so huge that they formed an arch over the entire cemetery, like an enormous roof, for their branches and boughs had become intertwined and grown into a gigantic crown.”
Two sentences imbued with the scale, majesty and ancient presence of healing linden.
Have you caught the buzz?
For a couple of weeks in mid June or early July – you need to be on the look-out as the season fluctuates with the weather, your latitude, the local climate and each species of lime – there is a near constant hum around the lime trees. It’s bees and other pollinators, drawn towards the sweet smell ready to gather nectar during the very short season when limeflowers open.
Even if the drone of traffic or hubbub of people distracts you from the sound, if you’re anywhere near a lime tree, you’ll likely catch the scent. Its sweetness fills the surrounding air with the lure of honey. The scent comes from the fragrant volatile oil within the flower, which contains farnesol. The honey it makes is most prized among beekeepers, often reserved for medicine making.
It is a remarkably short season. Almost as soon as you’ve noticed the flowers, they’re gone. If you reach the tree when its papery green bracts are accompanied by spherical balls, that’s the seed the flower leaves behind. While the seeds are edible, it’s the flowers that are sought after for tea as well as medicinal and skincare purposes.
The bracts are a special feature of the lime with multiple functions. They encourage any raindrops to fall away from the flower, protecting that nectar source; they also draw in pollinators, being bigger and more visible than the flower; and, once flowering is done, they provide a ‘wing’ to help the seed be carried by the wind.
Tilia
Tilia is one of the oldest tree species on the planet, thought to date back around 70 million years. There are about fifty species of Tilia found across Europe and Asia, with just a few species in North America. Tilia europaea, the Common Lime, is the species most often seen in hedgerows and fields. Flowers of Tilia cordata (small-leaved lime) and Tilia americana (North American lime) are used in the same way.
Tilleul
Limeflower tea is often referred to by its French name, Tilleul. It is a very popular drink in France, given to children to help settle them. Can there be anything more calming than sipping sweet and fragrant limeflower tea while gazing up through the branches of a majestic linden tree?
Tilleul is also the name given to limeflower when it is used as an ingredient in perfumery. It can be extracted from dried limeflowers but is more typically recreated synthetically. It is valued for bringing the exhilarating scent of a summer’s day into a perfume.
Act fast
Gather limeflowers as soon as you see them, they don’t hang around for long. Once gathered, also be quick to dry them, any delay and they may ferment. However, once dried, you can relax and enjoy your limeflowers in teas and skincare for a long while, kept dry (ideally in a wooden box) your limeflowers should last indefinitely. It is recommended though to have the freshest limeflowers for your tea, as they age, their narcotic powers may increase leading to a deeper sleep than you may have planned.
If you arrive early, before the limeflowers open, you could collect the buds to create a glycerite. Buds contain the highest concentrations of active nutrients and capturing this in glycerite form will make this precious harvest available to use in medicines and skincare through the year.
If you arrive too late for the flowers, you may still want to gather some leaves. They are mucilaginous and may be used in poultices and fomentations. The leaves exude a sweet substance which has the same composition as the manna received on Mount Sinai.
Limeflower in skincare
The limeflower glycerite you make from the buds is a wonderful addition to creams, cleansing milks and face masks. Limeflower is conditioning for the skin, it will soften, lubricate and help smooth out tiny wrinkles. It is believed to help in cell regeneration, good for skin, and hair health.
A distillate of the flowers can also be used in lotions, especially to ease sore skin. It’s lovely to combine with rosewater for a facial tonic, or with a splash of alcohol or witch hazel as an aftershave.
Fresh flowers in an infusion can be used to wash eyes, especially helpful if there is muscular weakness. Limeflower is said to act on the small capillaries in the eyes.
Adding limeflower to a bath or footbath is also a lovely way to enjoy the scent and relaxation it offers.
Heart healing
Take a look at the shape of the linden leaf, it’s like a heart. The tree is associated with the heart chakra and can be offered to those who need nurturing if they are depleted by giving out more than they take in. Unselfishness can take its toll.
Limeflowers are also recommended for those with a closed heart, those who are cold to the world can be de-frosted from the inside. In addition, limeflower can help those who have put a protective ring around themselves start to accept letting the world back in.
Grandmother of medicine
Tilia, the limeflower, or linden tree, is considered the ‘grandmother of medicine’ because in Greek myth Philyra (a sea nymph, whose name means love and attraction) was turned into the Linden tree.
Philyra’s beauty had beguiled Cronus (God of time) but – because to avoid being caught when his wife, Rhea turned up, Cronus turned himself into a stallion – their offspring Chiron, was half horse / half human, something that disgusted Philyra so much she asked to be anything other than it’s mother. So Zeus turned her into the linden tree.
Chiron was then fostered by Apollo, who taught him the art of medicine and herbs. Chiron’s skill grew to such an extent he is credited with the discovery of botany and pharmacy. Chiron went on to foster Asclepius (son of Apollo and Coronis) passing on the knowledge that would see Asclepius acknowledged as ‘God of Doctors’, so skilled in medicine he could resurrect the dead – an ability that would have him killed by Zeus, only to be revived again and made into a god to avoid a feud with Apollo.
Medicinal applications of limeflower
Despite this medicinal heritage, and even Hildegard of Bingen’s 12th century recommendation of lime as a “taiswomyn to ward off the plague”, used in the form of a ring with a green stone covering some limeflowers wrapped in a spiders web, lime has fallen out of use as a medicinal herb over the centuries.
The most popular use for lime is to bring out sweating in treating colds and flu however it has also been used for indigestion, and to manage extreme nervousness (the kind that brings on vomiting), hysteria and palpitations (the bioflavonoids reputedly help lower blood pressure).
Fine grained wood
Grinling Gibbons brought a preference for limewood carving to Britain in the 17th Century. Though initially ridiculed for his choice of lime over oak, his stunning work – such as that in St Paul’s Cathedral, Windsor Castle and Chatsworth House – earned him the title ‘woodcarver to the Kings’ and secured lime as the wood of choice for craftsmen and sculptors. As well as being pale in colour and particularly fine grained, lime wood has the advantage that it is not bothered by woodworm.
Lime’s inner bark is also useful, its fibres can be macerated to create a light, strong and elastic fibre, similar to flax. This is used for matting, baskets and fishing nets.
Local limes
So, head out and find your local lime trees. Despite their size they can be relatively inconspicuous when not in flower. Tall, leafy and green. Note where they are, and be sure to check them each year when June comes around. It only takes a couple of sunny days to open those creamy white flowers and bring out the sweet-smelling nectar. Instant pot pourri on a tree.
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