Plate VIIITHE ELM1. Elm Tree2. Leaf Spray3. Ready Buds4. Flower Spray5. Stamen Flower enlarged6. Seed Flower enlarged7. Fruit Clusters and Wing
Plate VIII
THE ELM1. Elm Tree2. Leaf Spray3. Ready Buds4. Flower Spray5. Stamen Flower enlarged6. Seed Flower enlarged7. Fruit Clusters and Wing
The inner bark of the tree has always been valuable. From it are made those mats of light brown grass which gardeners use to protect their delicate plants during winter; and these tailsof dried-looking grass with which they tie bunches of flowers instead of using string, are also made from the Lime tree bark. This inner bark is called “bass” or “bast,” and is chiefly made in Russia and Sweden.
It is from this bass or string that the tree gets its name, which is not really Lime, but Line or Linden, and is so called in other countries. We in Britain have got into the bad habit of mispronouncing the word. The true Lime tree is a cousin of the Orange and Lemon trees, and bears a yellow fruit called Limes. But the Linden tree is no relation of this Lime tree, and is so called because it is the tree from which we get gardener’s dried string or line, and we must remember that our popular name is a wrong one, and not the true name of the tree.