# What kind of tree is this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 25, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216 "2014-05-25T01:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/1 "2014-05-25T01:17:07Z")
Anyone know what kind of [tree this is](http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/liirogue/20140524_152726.jpg)? My in-laws from Romania say you can make tea from the flowers, and we were going to try to find the tea in a grocery store but aren’t sure what it would be called. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/2 "2014-05-25T01:25:21Z")
Looks like a Whitebeam, but I’m not familiar with that exact leaf shape. [http://www.barcham.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/page\_slideshow/F4\_-\_Sorbus\_aria\_lutescensflower.JPG](http://www.barcham.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/page_slideshow/F4_-_Sorbus_aria_lutescensflower.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/3 "2014-05-25T01:44:46Z")
Looks like a Linden to me. > **[Harvesting Linden Blossoms](https://jimdrohman.com/blog/2011/08/06/harvesting-linden-blossoms/)** > > In the neighborhood where I live, many of the trees that line the streets are lindens.  I was not really aware of this until a day several summers ago when I was walking home from work.  It was a w… ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/4 "2014-05-25T09:58:16Z")
> [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](#): > > Looks like a Linden to me. > > [Harvesting Linden Blossoms – Jim Drohman](http://jimdrohman.com/blog/2011/08/06/harvesting-linden-blossoms/) Its a good match for Tilia aka Linden. … The tea is then called Linden Tea , which is flavoured with the flower of the tree. The american varieties can be used to make tea, too. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/5 "2014-05-25T10:24:19Z")
Right. The American variety is also called basswood. You can recognize the heart-shaped leaf of either variety easily. In Finland, the tea is made from neither the flowers nor the leaves, but from small, soft, elongated secondary leaf-like parts – I think maybe they’re “brachts”? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/6 "2014-05-25T11:06:18Z")
That’s [“bracts”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bract) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/7 "2014-05-25T11:19:53Z")
Lindens - what we call lime trees in Britain - that’s it. Our car is currently covered in the flowers from this tree. I didn’t realise you could make tea from the flowers, but every spring I like to eat a few green lime-tree leaves. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/8 "2014-05-25T11:21:03Z")
When the bracts fall off they tend to block the drains, which is helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/9 "2014-05-25T12:18:59Z")
The flowers are delicious - they can be made into tea, cordial and also fermented into a fizzy drink. They have a delicate, melon-like flavour. Hope this isn’t considered spam - here’s a link to my own web page on the topic: [http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/lime\_flower\_cordial/](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/lime_flower_cordial/) ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/10 "2014-05-25T21:46:47Z")
It is the linden tree! Thanks everyone for your help! It doesn’t look like our local grocery stores carry that kind of tea though, so we’ll have to order it online. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/11 "2014-05-25T21:48:41Z")
And thanks **Magetout** , we will definitely try your cordial & ice cube ideas! ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/12 "2014-05-26T07:55:10Z")
Linden also produces a very fine honey (with the help of bees, of course). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/13 "2014-05-26T08:56:20Z")
Yes - the Lime trees around here are usually audibly buzzing with bees when I walk past. I would feel guilty about picking the flowers for my own use, were it not the fact that the tree produces them so copiously, mostly out of my reach. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/14 "2014-05-26T10:17:34Z")
And for the dark side of the Linden tree (audio NSFW): [- YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4p0uw42cdo) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/15 "2014-05-26T19:09:40Z")
I always assumed that sketch just got the tree wrong. Linden trees smell like melon and flowers to me. Sweet chestnut smells like semen. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/16 "2014-05-26T19:28:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I always assumed that sketch just got the tree wrong. Linden trees smell like melon and flowers to me. Sweet chestnut smells like semen. Could be. Around UC Davis there were a large number of “semen trees”; I think the consensus is that the Bradford Pears were the culprit. I assumed other trees might have the same… characteristic. There’s something about the [Sweet Chestnut](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chestnuts.jpg) that makes me unsurprised about the scent. Also, [Cecil’s take](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/569/i-want-to-get-my-nipples-pierced-are-there-health-risks) on the topic (scroll down). The chestnut does appear to be one source. The Linden isn’t mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/17 "2014-05-26T19:29:10Z")
Linden honey, in large quantities, a[nd of some varieties,](http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/Which-Lime-Trees-Are-Toxic-For-Bees.html) is poisonous to some bumblebees. You can find dead bumblebees under the tree sometimes. Cars parked under linden trees sometimes get splotches of sticky dark grey stuff on the roof. That is the leaf honey. Leaf honey is made by the lice that suck lots of linden tree sap. Tree sap is rich in sugar, but poor in protein. To get enough protein, the lice have to drink lots of tree sap and secrete the majority of it from their abdomen. [Ants harvest this sap](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qEbdQW3gIZ8/Tn1jWzBW3TI/AAAAAAAAAjA/GQ9R3QD5yqQ/s1600/ants_aphids_sugar.jpg), and often protect the aphids to get more of the sap. Bees harvest it too, it is the dark honey they collect at the end of summer. But if there are no ants or bees to harvest the secreted sap, it falls out of the tree like a sweet sticky rain. If that rain falls on cars, there is an certain airborne omnipresent fungus that immediately colonizes the sweet patches and turns them into dark grey mouldy patches,[like this on a car hood](http://www.auto-krassen-weg-poetsen.nl/uploads/8/2/5/6/8256355/9827685_orig.jpg). It looks [like this on the leaves itself](http://www.bomenbieb.nl/img/ziekte/800x600/Lindebladluis-Eucallipterus-tiliae-roetdauw-overlast-druipen.jpg). But it washes right off. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-tree-is-this/689216/18 "2014-05-26T20:41:08Z")
Yeah - the trees around here are always teeming with aphids. Clouds of them when the branches are shaken - the aphids are on my list of potential wild food sources (I think they could be harvestable in sufficient quantity to be eaten - just haven’t decided on the method of cooking)