Friday, April 20, 2012

Little Leaf Linden 2011

Tilia cordata is a wonderful tree. Tilia is a genus of several related varieties, species, and they hybridize easily. In English, several names are applied: lime (British usage), basswood (American usage), teil, and linden. All the slavonic nations call the tree, lipa. The traditional name for the month of June is Lipanj in Croat, in Polish July is Lipiec. Leipzig is a germanification of the Sorb/Wendish term. At the time of recent independence for Slovenija, debate was made to put the leaf on the flag, or to name the currency after it.

It is a fragrant flower, that attracts bees for nectar. An herbal team of several medicinal usages is brewed from the flowers. The wood was frequently used for sculpture. Many church statues, altars were carved from it. Many icons were painted on it.

I took a series of photos of a particular tree, last year. The street, a few years back, had several such trees on the tree lawns/devil strip. This one comes to flower days after its sisters. Now, the city has come, year after year and shredded the trees and ground the stumps, one by one. The trees seemed healthy enough. Some people complain they are messy. They always shed something: leaves, flowers, twigs, branches, sap. They push up sidewalks. The root structure is intensive, and the front lawns, sometimes have difficulty in competition for sun, water, and minerals. I like to think, as Robert Frost might, that one should prefer to have such trees survive. In Europe some of their kind have stood a thousand years.

I noticed to-day, it was three weeks ahead in leaf production, as compared to last year. In Ohio, last year was ridiculously wet. Cincinnati had 73.28'' rain and other melted precipitation, Cleveland had 65.32". The previous records were in 1990 at 57.58'', and 53.83". Average for Cleveland was 39.14''. This March 19-23, each day set a record of 80+°F.
9 may
11 may
14 may
25 may
6 june
24 june
19 sept
8 oct
30 oct
31 dec

No comments:

Post a Comment