''Tilia caroliniana''

Mill. Philip Miller FRS (1691 – 18 December 1771) was an English botanist and gardener of Scottish descent. Miller was chief gardener at the Chelsea Physic Garden for nearly 50 years from 1722, and wrote the highly popular '' The Gardeners Dict ...

is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Malvaceae Malvaceae, or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include okra, cotton, cacao and durian. There are also some genera containing familiar ...

native to the southern and south-eastern states of the U.S., and Mexico.

Taxonomy

''T. caroliniana'' consists of 4

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: * ''T. caroliniana subsp. caroliniana'' * ''T. caroliniana subsp. floridana'' Small (E. Murray) * ''T. caroliniana subsp. heterophylla'' (Vent.) Pigott) * ''T. caroliniana subsp. occidentalis'' (Rose) Pigott) Trees described as belonging to ''Tilia mexicana'', belong to either subsp. ''floridana'' or subsp. ''occidentalis''. However, the taxonomy of American species of ''Tilia'' remains a matter of contention. DNA analysis, which has clarified much of the taxonomy of genera such as ''Ulmus'', has yet to be applied to ''Tilia''. Pigott (2012) wrote:Pigott, Donald (2012). p.253

The complexity of variation in American ''Tilia'' is not readily treated by classical taxonomy, and attempts to do so have resulted in the description of a profusion of species and varieties that are often separated by small and inconsistent differences.

Description

''Tilia caroliniana'' may grow to tall with a trunk up to in diameter. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are large, very unequal at the base, long and broad, with a finely toothed margin; they are light green and smooth above, and silvery downy beneath. Some leaves on specimens identified as ''T. mexicana'' in English arboreta are huge, long,Hillier & Sons. (1990). ''Hillier's Manual of Trees & Shrubs, 5th ed.''. David & Charles, Newton Abbot. as exemplified by the specimen at the

Ventnor Botanic Garden Ventnor Botanic Garden is a botanic garden located in Ventnor, Isle of Wight. It was founded in 1970, by Sir Harold Hillier, and donated to the Isle of Wight Council. Its collection comprises worldwide temperate and subtropical trees and shrub ...

. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, larger than those of ''T. americana'', are produced in clusters of 10–24 together. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is spherical, diameter, downy, with the fruit bract pointed at the base. Image: Tilia mexicana tree.jpg, Tree accessed as ''T. mexicana'' at Ventnor Botanic Garden,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

Image: Tilia mexicana leaf.jpg, Typical leaf Image: Tilia mexicana foliage.jpg, Foliage of specimen, at Ventnor B. G. Image: Tilia mexicana leaf, with hand for scale.jpg, Large leaf, >30 cm long File:Tilia caroliniana subsp. heterophylla, Morris Arboretum 01.jpg, Flowering T. caroliniana subsp. heterophylla

Uses

The young leaves are edible, and can be made into a mild-flavored

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

.Plants For A Future
''Tilia heterophylla''
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Cultivation

Seed of Mexican specimens collected by the British 1991 expedition in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

has yielded trees which are 'growing steadily' in British gardens, including on heavy clay. The species is currently (2017) in commerce in the UK.International Dendrology Society. Tilia mexicana. ''Trees and Shrubs online''

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Notable trees

In the UK, the

TROBI champion, identified as ''T. mexicana'', grows at RHS Garden, Wisley">Wisley __NOTOC__ Wisley is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England between Cobham and Woking, in the Borough of Guildford. It is the home of the Royal Horticultural Society's Wisley Garden. The River Wey runs through the village and Ockham and ...

, where it had attained a height of 8 m and a Diameter at breast height">d.b.h. Diameter at breast height, or DBH, is a standard method of expressing the diameter of the trunk or bole of a standing tree. DBH is one of the most common dendrometric measurements. Tree trunks are measured at the height of an adult's breast, ...

of 17 cm by 2010.Johnson, O. (ed.). (2011). ''Champion Trees of Britain & Ireland''. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. The record-holding tree is located on the campus of Radford University in Virginia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6146917 https://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/radford/record-setting-tree-calls-radford-university-campus-home/article_24672236-abdf-5136-8e3e-703b04edee9d.html Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Trees of the Eastern United States Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of the Southeastern United States Flora of Virginia Trees of Mexico Plants described in 1768 Taxa named by Philip Miller Flora of the Sierra Madre Occidental Flora without expected TNC conservation status Flora of the Sierra Madre Oriental