Lime leaves are heart-shaped, with a finely toothed edge. At the base they are lopsided, with one side reaching further down the stalk than the other.
Native, a hybrid nearly always planted · Up to 46 m
Common lime
Tilia × europaea · Malvaceae
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.
Often mistaken for Indian bean tree. How to tell them apart →Know it byLeavesHeart-shaped leaves, lopsided at the base.
BurrsA mass of twiggy shoots round the foot of the trunk.
NutsFlowers in July, then hairy nuts, under a leafy strap.
LeavesHeart-shaped leaves, lopsided at the base.BurrsA mass of twiggy shoots round the foot of the trunk.NutsFlowers in July, then hairy nuts, under a leafy strap.Then check · Red budsIn winter, fat red buds, each wrapped in two red flaps, one big and one small.
How to identify a common lime
Many trees have a dense mass of twiggy shoots round the foot of the trunk, leafy in summer and a bare tangle in winter. Behind them the trunk is knobbly with burrs.
In July, small, fragrant, pale yellow flowers hang in clusters under a narrow, leafy strap. Later the same strap carries a bunch of small, round, hairy nuts.
Learn the common lime in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely
Every part, in photographs
When to look
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In leaf
Flowers
Nuts on straps
In leaf: April to November · Flowers: July · Nuts on straps: July to November
Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter
Where you’ll find it
Streets, avenues, parks, churchyards and village greens throughout Britain and Ireland, and planted in woods and shelter-belts too. It is rare in the wild, where it grows on steep limestone slopes in the Wye Valley, Derbyshire and Staffordshire.
What it’s mistaken for
- Small-leaved limeBoth are limes with lopsided heart-shaped leaves and the same two-scaled bud. Leaf. Common lime: about 10 cm, buff tufts where the veins meet. Small-leaved lime: 3 to 8 cm, rust-coloured tufts where the veins meet.
- Large-leaved limeOne of its two parents. Leaf. Common lime: smooth and shiny, buff tufts where veins meet. Large-leaved lime: soft fur over the whole underside.
In the app
There’s more of the common lime in Treely
- Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
- Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
- A short round each dayUntil you know the common lime on sight, from any side
- Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree
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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), steve_mcwilliam (CC0), portioid (CC BY 4.0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.