A tree as yet about 50 ft high in this country, but probably considerably higher naturally, of graceful, often rather pendulous growth; young shoots glabrous. Leaves roundish ovate, oblique and heart-shaped at the base, with short, tapered points, 2 to 4 in. long, often more in young trees, and as much or more wide; rich glossy green and glabrous above, pale green beneath and glabrous, except for tufts of hairs in the axils of the veins; marginal teeth small, regular and slender; stalk glabrous, 1 to 2 in. long. Flowers produced in the latter half of July, three to seven together in cymes 2 to 4 in. long, yellowish white. Floral bract linear-oblong, or narrowly lance-shaped, 2 to 3 in. long, 1⁄4 to 5⁄8 in. wide, glabrous, shortly stalked. Fruits distinctly ovoid, tapered to a point, shaggy, with pale brown wool, 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 in. long.
Of doubtful origin; introduced about 1860. In some respects this is the most beautiful of the limes on account of its bright green large leaves and pleasing form. It is remarkably free from insect pests. In the summer of 1909, when not only limes but nearly every other tree and shrub was infested with aphides and other pests, I examined specimens of this lime at intervals during the summer, and never found a single parasite on the leaves. Yet it is quite uncommon in this country. On the continent, however, its qualities are better appreciated, and it is being much planted in streets. Its brilliantly glossy, rounded, nearly glabrous leaves and pendulous branches very well distinguish it.
To the above account, taken unchanged from previous editions, it should be added that the merits of T. × euchlora are now as much appreciated in Britain as on the continent. Being largely resistant to aphis infestation it does not drip honey-dew and is therefore suitable for street-planting. Its only disadvantage as a street tree is that the lower branches tend to droop with age, and give off pendulous secondary branches. It is an undemanding tree, holding its foliage well in hot, dry summers and tolerant of smoke pollution. Its beautiful, almost yellow flowers afford excellent forage for bees.
The history of T. × euchlora remains obscure, but it was apparently first distributed by Booth’s Flottbeck Nursery near Hamburg as T. dasystyla. It is considered by some authorities to be a hybrid between that species (or T. caucasica) and T. cordata, by others as a variant of T. caucasica. The seed from which it was raised almost certainly came from the Crimea, but it is not a native of that region in the sense of having a wide distribution there.
The trees at Kew, planted in 1871-2, measure 60 × 5 ft and 60 × 8 ft (1974). Others measured recently are: Westonbirt, Glos., Willesley Drive, 62 × 5 ft (1971), and The Downs, 48 × 6 ft (1975); Tortworth, Glos., 50 × 61⁄4 ft (1973); Queens Road, Cambridge, 60 × 5 ft (1976).
cv. ‘Redmond’. – As yet scarcely known in Britain, this cultivar is said to differ from the usual form of T. × euchlora in its dense, pyramidal habit. It was selected in the USA and put into commerce there in 1927.