Tilia cordata Mill.

The number of individuals is unknown but it was said to be frequent in the Iberian Peninsula (Castroviejo et al. 1993). It is rare in UK where it occurs as an ancient coppiced tree but has also been planted in parks and streets (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland 2024). In Poland, lime regeneration is successful where it regenerates freely in groups in the Białowieża Forest; vegetative reproduction is very important for populations growing on the border of natural range. Sprouting is known to prolong the life of damaged trees. It is a co-dominant tree in mixed stands and pure stands can be found in the eastern part of Europe (i.e. lime or lime-oak forests in Russia). It is most abundant from north-east France through central Germany and Poland to central Russia and north Ukraine. It is common in the Swiss plain and the lowland parts of Austria, Czech Republic and western Hungary, occurring sparsely in Alpine valleys and is absent in the dry parts of the Hungarian plain. In Italy and Greece pure stands are rare. Flowering and seed production of stand trees begins at the age of about 25-30 years, but trees originating from sprouts blossom 10-15 years earlier. Tilia cordata and T. platyphyllos form natural inter-specific hybrids when individuals of these species exist in the close proximity; these forms are known as “common linden” Tilia x europaea (L.) syn. Tilia x vulgaris (Hayne) (Radoglou et al. 2008). Investigations of morphological characteristics of T. cordata have revealed little variation between populations (Jensen 2003). In Denmark the population is widespread; the majority of stands are small with fewer than 50 individuals but it is found at higher densities in commercial forests (Honnay et al. 2004).The species' population is declining in Norway due to poor recruitment caused by encroachment of forests and the development of incompatible forest successional stages (Solstad et al. 2021).