Common lime or Indian bean tree?

Both are big planted trees with broad leaves, rounded or heart-shaped at the base.

The quickest check

The quickest check is the leaf's size and edge. Common lime: about 10 cm, finely toothed, lopsided at the base. Indian bean tree: 15 to 30 cm, smooth-edged, with a sudden point. No leaves on the tree? Check the flower cluster in summer.

At a glance

Look at	Common lime	Indian bean tree
Leaf's size and edge	About 10 cm, finely toothed, lopsided at the base	15 to 30 cm, smooth-edged, with a sudden point
Flower cluster in summer	Small pale yellow flowers hanging under a leafy strap	White bells about 5 cm long, in upright heads
Lower trunk	Pale greyish brown, wrapped in twiggy sprouts	Shallow scaly squares, pinkish orange

Three ways to tell them apart

Leaf's size and edgeLeaves

Common lime: leaf's size and edge — Common limeAbout 10 cm, finely toothed, lopsided at the base

Indian bean tree: leaf's size and edge — Indian bean tree15 to 30 cm, smooth-edged, with a sudden point

Flower cluster in summerFlowers

Common lime: flower cluster in summer — Common limeSmall pale yellow flowers hanging under a leafy strap

Indian bean tree: flower cluster in summer — Indian bean treeWhite bells about 5 cm long, in upright heads

Lower trunkBark

Common lime: lower trunk — Common limePale greyish brown, wrapped in twiggy sprouts

Indian bean tree: lower trunk — Indian bean treeShallow scaly squares, pinkish orange

Think you can tell them apart now? Try the tree quiz: real photographs, and what gives each tree away.Take the quiz

The two trees

Common lime

Tilia × europaea

Common lime is a tall, domed tree planted in streets and parks, often with a mass of twiggy shoots round its foot. Its heart-shaped leaves are lopsided at the base.

How to identify common lime →

Indian bean tree

Catalpa bignonioides

Indian bean tree is a broad, open tree with big, pale green leaves. After hot summers, long, thin pods up to 40 cm hang from its bare branches in winter.

How to identify Indian bean tree →

In the app

See them side by side in Treely

Both trees, part by partLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed through the year
Every lookalike side by sideThe checks that settle it, for every pair people mix up
A short round each dayUntil you can tell them apart at a glance
The full GuideBoth trees written up in full, with where to find them

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Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), Cheongweei Gan (CC BY 4.0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), portioid (CC BY 4.0), nikonbird007 (CC0), bobwardell (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.