Lime flowers (Linden, Lime tree, Tila)
Tilia europea, tilia cordata
They are brilliant for kids because of the sweet taste, and have a most excellent combination of healing properties in that they support digestion and help with getting off to sleep (in France a tea or tisane made with the flowers, tilleul, is a common post-meal digestive drink). Like Yarrow, Lime flowers also promote circulation and can have a diaphoretic effect making you sweat and cool down.
A grand and beautiful tree of our city avenues and parks, you are sure to catch a glimpse of these gorgeous, honey-coloured, sweet-smelling blossoms which will start to open in the next few weeks. If you’re able to find one that is away from traffic and with some branches low enough to pick the flowers (which are incredibly abundant on the tree and so well-loved by bees that once you’re near the tree you will hear a deep hum), then gather a bagful to dry for teas.
Limeflowers are sweet-tasting and ‘mucilaginous’, meaning they contain gloopy starch compounds that feel smooth and slippery in the tea, and are soothing for our respiratory and digestive tracts if there’s any heat or dryness or inflammation there - coughs, sore throats, upset stomachs. They are brilliant for kids because of the sweet taste, and have a most excellent combination of healing properties in that they support digestion and help with getting off to sleep (in France a tea or tisane made with the flowers, tilleul, is a common post-meal digestive drink). Like Yarrow, Lime flowers also promote circulation and can have a diaphoretic effect making you sweat and cool down. So, a perfect summer remedy for overheating, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, especially if these affect digestion or sleep. Many have reported the strong calming and sleepifying effects of Limeflower tea, and being a well-loved remedy in northern and eastern Europe, you will find it in London shops of these places.
You can mix the flowers with other relaxing herbs like Lavender, Oatstraw, Rose petals, Mugwort, Chamomile...
The lime or linden tree has a lot of romantic folklore around it, and its wood was traditionally used to carve mantelpieces and church decor.
This here is a nice little history round up.