Oliver's Lime at Riverhill Himalayan Gardens

The two specimen of the Chinese White Limes or Oliver's Limes, Tilia oliveri Szyszyłowicz, on the east end of the front terrace are looking a bit tatty really, although on the plus side, the Mistletoe plants do love them - perhaps a Mistle-Thrush or two might be involved.

From above, the sub-cordate leaves looked a rather acidic lemony yellow rather than a dark green, while from below a very uniform whitish or light grey colour is produced presumably by the tomentum (stellate-downy). The base of the leaves is quite unequal, looking as though the leaf is set upon the petiole at an angle. Things I did notice were the (glabrous) smooth glossiness of the young shoots, and the quite long petioles. I didn't notice the colour of the bark.

The plants originate from moist forest in NW. Hupeh, in Central China, ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 metres altitude.

Hilliers describe it as: "A Medium Tree. This is an elegant domed -shaped tree, leaves dark green above and silver-white beneath. Very pretty in wind. It has silver-grey bark which is clear and smooth. This tree is clear of aphids.". There is also an excellent article in "Trees and Shrubs Online", describing its introduction.

From the Chinese eFlora. Trees 6-26 m tall. Bark dark gray, smooth with shallow furrows and rounded ridges; branchlets glabrous; winter buds big, glabrous or hairy. Petiole 1.5-5 cm, glabrous or rarely pilose; leaf blade broadly elliptic, ovate-orbicular, or triangular-ovate, 6-14 × 4.5-10 cm, abaxially densely gray-white stellate tomentose, adaxially glabrous, lateral veins 5-6 pairs, base shallowly cordate to obliquely truncate, margin serrate to serrulate, teeth often awned, apex shortly acuminate. Cymes 7-20-flowered, as long as or shorter than bracts. Bracts band-shaped, sometimes broader distally, 5-8 × 1-2.5 cm, adnate to peduncle for 2/5 of length, sessile. Sepals triangular-ovate, 5-6 mm, abaxially densely stellate puberulent, adaxially densely tomentose. Petals 5, 6-7 mm, glabrous. Stamens 45, in 5 fascicles, glabrous; staminodes smaller than petals, glabrous, stalked. Ovary densely stellate tomentose; style glabrous. Fruit obovoid, globose, or ellipsoid, 7-10 mm, gray-white tomentose and verrucose; exocarp woody, hard, indehiscent. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Aug-Sep. 2n = 82*.

It is listed as fairly narcotic to bees.