Wild Food Guide — 'S'

This is the description page for Linden (Tilia x europaea) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the wild foodstuff: Linden.

Linden, (also known as the European or Common Lime) Tilia x europaea (syn Tilia intermedia DC, Tilia officinarum Crantz, Tilia x vulgaris Hayne) is the European or common lime tree, also know as the Linden. In fact it's a hybrid between Tilia cordata (the Small-leaved lime) and Tilia platyphyllos (the Large-leaved lime) and occurs naturally wherever the two species grow together. As such, it's not truly native anywhere and often the fruit will not be viable.

It's sweet scent meant that it was extensively planted in European cities as an antidote to the 'foul airs' of the 18th and 19th centuries. Yet the linden or lime is now found throughout Britain and this makes it a valuable resource for the wild forager.

It's a large deciduous tree, typically growing from between 20m to 45m tall (with a canopy extending out about 35m) and can bear a trunk of up to 2m in diameter. The leaves are lenticulate, typically some 10cm long and 8cm broad and the underside is distinctly hairy, with more pronounced hairs on the leaf vein axis.

The tree bears hermaphroditic flowers (top, right) early in summer. Typically these are produced in clusters of between four and ten, with a leafy yellow-green subtending bract. The flowers themselves are very fragrant and can be used as a flavouring for alcohol or dried and used as a tea. However, some care should be taken as, if the flowers are picked when too old, they may produce the symptoms of narcotic intoxication.

The fruit (image, bottom right) is a nut-like drupe about 8mm in diameter with a downy surface that's faintly ribbed. The immature fruit has a chocolatey taste and is often nibbled by children. The mature fruit can be dried and used as a chocolate-flavoured coffee substitute or even a chocolate substitute.

The leaves, flowers and fruit are edible (but see the note above on the possible narcotic effects of old flowers) and the lime tree is an excellent resource for the wild forager. The younger leaves (when they are pale lime green and translucent) can be used as a salad vegetable or added to stews as a thickener. Slightly older leaves can be part-dried and used in stews.

The older leaves can be dried pulverized and when sifted the resultant powder can be used as a thickener for stews (in a similar manner to the African use of baobab leaves or American sassafras leaves). Powdered linden leaves also used to be used as a flour substitute or flour additive to make breads, cakes and porridge or pap. Indeed, it was used this way in France during the Second World War. The process is not exactly efficient, though, as 500g of fresh linden leaves will only yield 100g of linden leaf powder. Linden leaves do, however, contain a high percentage of invert sugars. As a result they are readily metabolized by diabetics and can be an useful addition to diabetic recipes.

In a similar way to birch, the tree can be tapped for its sap in spring. This can be boiled down to make a syrup, but as the sap is generally low in sugar it takes considerable quantities of linden sap to make any useful quantity of linden syrup. However, the sap can be used in place of water if making linden blossom mead.

During the 18th century the French chemist, Missa discovered that by grinding the immature fruit of linden trees with dried linden flowers he could obtain a produce that had an aroma similar to chocolate. The process was tentatively commercialized in Germany, but the large-scale production of 'linden chocolate' was quickly abandoned as it was soon discovered that the product did not keep well. These days, however, you can make linden chocolate and freeze it for later use (though even when frozen it doesn't keep that well).

Note that though I have described the uses of Tilia x europaea here, the leaves, flowers and fruit of all European and North American linden trees can be used in a similar manner.

Linden Schnapps
Linden Nut Coffee
Linden Leaf Salad
Linden Leaf Flour
Linden Flower Vegetables
Linden Wine
Linden Flower Cordial
Linden Leaf Stew
Linden Flower Tea
Linden Chocolate
Linden Chocolate Mississippi Mud Pie
Linden Leaf Flour Bread