Tiliaceae
Read about Tiliaceae in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Tiliaceae (from the genus Tilia, the ancient Latin name of the Linden). Linden or Basswood Family. Fig. 36. Trees, shrubs, or herbs: leaves mostly alternate, entire or variously lobed: flowers bisexual, regular; sepals 5, rarely 3 or 4, free or connate, usually valvate; petals as many as the sepals, convolute or imbricated, or valvate, rarely wanting or modified; stamens 10 or more, hypogynous, usually very numerous, filaments separate, or connate only at the base, or in 5-10 fascicles, some may be staminodia; anthers 4-celled, opening by slits or pores; ovary superior, 2-10-celled; ovules 1 to several in each cell; style 1; stigma rayed: fruit a capsule, or indehiscent and nut-like, or a drupe, rarely a berry, or separating into drupelets; seeds usually albuminous. Most of the 35 genera and 270 species are tropical. The most important extra-tropical genus is Tilia (linden, basswood), which is widely distributed. Fossil species are known. The Tiliaceae are related to the Malvaceae and Sterculiaceae, from which they are distinguished by the nearly distinct stamens, and 4-celled anthers. The stamens are sometimes borne, along with the ovary, on a long stipe-like projection of the receptacle, sometimes cover the whole surface of a discoid receptacle, and sometimes are enveloped by the petals. The Tiliaceae, like the Malvaceae, are mucilaginous. For this reason, many have been used more or less in medicine. The genus Tilia and other arborescent genera furnish very valuable timber; that of Grewia asiatica is flexible and used for bow-making. In the tropics the foliage of Corchorus olitorius is used as a pot-herb. The fruits of species of Grewia are used in India as a sherbet because of their agreeable juice. Some members of the family yield cordage. The beautiful seeds of many species are made into necklaces by the Indians. In North America 6 or more genera arc in cultivation. They are all warmhouse plants, or are grown in southern California, except the Tilias (Basswood, Lime, Linden), of which many species are grown in America. The Tilias furnish some of our best-known hardy, ornamental trees. Other genera are: Entelea, Luehea, Grewia (with some half-hardy species), and Sparmannia.
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Genera
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
External links
- w:Tiliaceae. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
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