Small-leaved Lime (Tilia parvifolia).
Several species of Lime may be met in woods and plantations, but respecting the right of each to be called indigenous there is a good deal of difference of opinion among authorities. Some say the present species is a native and the Large-leaved Lime (T. platyphyllos) not; others reverse this verdict and say that platyphyllos is certainly native, but that parvifolia is doubtfully so. There is little difference, other than the size of the leaves, between the two. Both are trees of sixty feet and upwards. The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped and toothed,
lop-sided at the base, and about two and a half inches across in parvifolia compared with four inches in platyphyllos. In July and August the Small-leaved Lime puts forth her yellowy-green blossoms arranged in cymes, the long stalk of which is furnished with a long pale-coloured bract. The flowers consist of five sepals, five petals, a great number of stamens, a
five celled globular ovary with simple style and a five-toothed stigma. Only one of the cells matures its two ovules, so that the fruit is two-seeded. The flowers are sweet-scented, and very rich in honey.
The generic name, Tilia, is that by which the Romans knew the tree.
Tree Of the Gods (Ailantus glandulosa).
This elegant shade-tree was introduced from North China in 1751, and brought its name with it Ailanto, or Tree of the Gods. It has, however, been better appreciated in France and Italy than in this country. It grows to a height of fifty or
sixty feet. The leaves are compound, pinnate, a fact that might easily be overlooked, for the whole leaf is so large—sometimes as much as six feet in length—that its stalk and mid-rib might well be mistaken for a branch clothed with
