Lime tree: young leaves as salad and flowers for tea
The lime tree is one of the few trees whose young leaves you can eat raw: in spring they are tender, mild and pleasantly mucilaginous. In early summer the lime flowers smell sweet, and dried they make a popular tea. Here you learn to recognise the lime by its lopsided, heart-shaped leaf and the wing-like bract of the flower, to harvest safely without climbing and to dry properly.
- Collecting leaves 10 minutes; collecting flowers 20–30 minutes, drying a few days
Expliqué simplement
The lime is a big tree with heart-shaped leaves. In spring the young leaves are so tender that you can eat them like salad. They taste mild and a bit slippery.
In summer the lime flowers and smells sweet. The bees hum loudly in the tree then. You can make tea from the dried flowers.
You never climb the tree. You only pick what you can reach from the ground, and not from trees right next to the road.
Comment ça marche
Young lime leaves contain a lot of plant mucilage. It makes them soft and gives them the slightly slippery mouthfeel. Bitter substances and tough fibres only come later, when the leaf gets older and has to protect itself from being eaten.
The flowers hang in small groups from a long, light green bract. This leaf later serves as a wing: when the fruits are ripe, they spin down on it like a propeller and fly a little way from the tree.
When drying, the water evaporates from the flowers while most of the fragrance stays. Shade and air are important: in the sun the flowers lose colour and scent, and stored too densely they start to go mouldy.
Ce qui compte vraiment
Recognition: lopsided heart-shaped leaf with a finely toothed edge, in summer flowers on a tongue-shaped bract. That makes the lime unmistakable among our trees.
Timing: leaves only in spring, as long as they are light green and thin. Flowers when most have just opened – usually in June or July, depending on species and altitude.
Place: trees away from roads, with low-hanging branches or young shoots on the trunk. For trees in gardens, parks and avenues ask first.
Sécurité : à quoi faire attention
The biggest danger when collecting from trees is a fall. Do not climb, do not stand on wobbly things and do not tear off branches.
Street trees carry dust, exhaust and, in summer, sticky honeydew from aphids. Rather collect from trees in the forest or the countryside and rinse the leaves.
Store dried flowers dry and dark. A musty smell or visible mould means: throw them away.
Pas à pas
Recognise the lime tree
Limes are large deciduous trees in forests, parks, villages and avenues. Their leaves are heart-shaped but lopsided: one half of the leaf is bigger at the base than the other. The edge is finely toothed, the tip briefly drawn out. The bark of young branches is smooth, often reddish.
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Recognise the lime tree
Limes are large deciduous trees in forests, parks, villages and avenues. Their leaves are heart-shaped but lopsided: one half of the leaf is bigger at the base than the other. The edge is finely toothed, the tip briefly drawn out. The bark of young branches is smooth, often reddish.
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Young leaves in spring
In April and May the fresh leaves are light green, thin, soft and almost translucent. Pick them from low-hanging branches or from young shoots at the base of the trunk. As soon as the leaves get darker and firmer, they are too tough to eat.
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Leaves as salad
Rinse the leaves and eat them raw as salad or on bread. They taste mild and slightly mucilaginous and go well with stronger wild herbs such as wild garlic or garlic mustard. Because limes carry many leaves, you can collect more of them than of small herbs.
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Flowers with their bract
In June and July limes flower yellowish-white and smell strongly – often you hear the bees before you see the flowers. Each flower cluster hangs from a long, tongue-shaped, light green bract. Pick whole clusters with the bract when most flowers have just opened.
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Dry the flowers
Spread the flowers loosely in a single layer on paper or a cloth in a shady, airy place without direct sun. After a few days they are crisp-dry. Store them in a tightly closing, dry jar in the dark. If they smell musty or go mouldy, throw them away.
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Lime flower tea
For one cup use about one heaped tablespoon of dried flowers, pour boiling water over them and let them steep covered for about 5 to 10 minutes. Then strain. The tea tastes mild, floral and slightly sweet and is a warm drink for cold evenings.
Erreurs courantes
- Climbing trees or breaking off branches
- Harvesting street trees
- Eating old, tough leaves
- Drying flowers in the sun or too densely
- Filling them into jars while damp
Aperçu rapide
Matériel
Sac ou panier de cueillette aéré
Airy, so the flowers do not sweat
Cueillir chaque espèce séparément pour qu'aucune plante inconnue ne se mélange
Pas de sacs en plastique pour longtemps – les plantes vertes transpirent et se gâtent
Casserole en métal (acier inoxydable, aluminium, titane)
Pour la tisane
Chaud – risque de brûlure.
Tamis fin ou linge à passer dense
Pour filtrer
Pour les cynorhodons, il doit être assez fin pour retenir les minuscules poils : une passoire à grosses mailles ne suffit pas
Convient pour
- April to May: young leaves
- June to July: flowers
- Mild greens in large amounts
- Tea as a warm drink
Ne convient pas pour
- Street trees and avenues along busy roads
- Climbing trees
- Old, tough summer leaves
Prérequis
- Recognising limes by leaf and flower
- Trees with low-hanging branches, away from roads
- The owner's permission for gardens, parks and avenues
Sécurité
- Only eat leaves and flowers from trees you have reliably recognised as limes: lopsided heart-shaped, toothed leaves and flowers with a long, pale bract. When in doubt, do not collect.
- Limes along roads carry dust and exhaust, and in summer sticky honeydew from aphids often drips from them. Collect from trees away from traffic and rinse the leaves.
Comment ça marche
Young lime leaves contain a lot of mucilage and few bitter substances, which is why they taste mild and can be eaten raw. The flowers hang in small clusters on a conspicuous, tongue-shaped bract that later serves as a wing for the fruits. Dried, the flowers keep their scent and make a mild tea.
Avantages
- Very easy to recognise, no dangerous look-alikes among the trees
- Many leaves at once
- Flowers can be dried and stored
- Mild taste
Inconvénients
- Leaves only tender for a few weeks
- Many limes stand along roads
- High branches out of reach
- Few calories
Connaissances approfondies
Contexte technique
In Central Europe the lime was often the village tree where people met. Lime flower tea is still a well-known household drink today, and wild plant books name the young leaves as one of the best wild salad greens.
Here too: trees belong to someone. For trees in gardens, parks and avenues ask the owner or the municipality, and only take what you can reach from the ground.
Variantes
- Tea from fresh flowers
- You can brew fresh flowers straight away. Use about twice the amount as with dried flowers.
- Shoots from the base
- Many limes send up young shoots at the base of the trunk. Their leaves stay tender longer and are easy to reach from the ground.
Erreurs courantes
- Climbing trees or breaking off branches
- Harvesting street trees
- Eating old, tough leaves
- Drying flowers in the sun or too densely
- Filling them into jars while damp
Limites et risques
- Applies to large- and small-leaved lime in Central Europe
- Aucune promesse de guérison
- No amounts for medicinal purposes
Alternatives de matériaux
Déduit des propriétés des matériaux : un substitut doit avoir toutes les propriétés requises. Respectez les remarques sur le substitut.
- Sac ou panier de cueillette aéré
- Casserole en métal (acier inoxydable, aluminium, titane) (Chaud – risque de brûlure.), Bouteille en acier inoxydable à simple paroi (Ne chauffez que des bouteilles à simple paroi, sans peinture ni plastique ; retirez le bouchon avant de chauffer.), Bouteille isotherme à double paroi (Ne jamais chauffer directement.), Bouteille en PET (transparente, 2 litres max.) (Ne pas chauffer ni placer dans un feu.), Bidon d'eau de qualité alimentaire (Utilisez uniquement des récipients qui n'ont jamais contenu de produits chimiques ni de carburant.), Boîte de conservation hermétique, adaptée au contact alimentaire (Ne remplir que lorsqu'elle est propre et complètement sèche ; n'utilisez jamais de récipients ayant contenu des produits chimiques.), Bidon ou sac à eau pliable (Protéger des objets pointus.), Verre doseur, Poche à eau de qualité alimentaire (À utiliser uniquement pour l'eau potable, jamais pour des produits chimiques ni du carburant.), Bocal ou pot de fermentation (Utilisez uniquement des récipients alimentaires en verre, en grès émaillé adapté au contact alimentaire ou en plastique alimentaire – pas de récipients en métal pour les aliments acides.), Sachets alimentaires refermables (N'utilisez que des sachets destinés aux aliments ; ne les utilisez pas avec de l'eau bouillante, sauf si le fabricant l'autorise expressément.), Récipient de cueillette rigide (boîte, panier ou gobelet) (Une espèce par récipient – ne jamais y mélanger quelque chose d'inconnu)
- Casserole en métal (acier inoxydable, aluminium, titane)
- Bouteille en acier inoxydable à simple paroi (Ne chauffez que des bouteilles à simple paroi, sans peinture ni plastique ; retirez le bouchon avant de chauffer.)
Les résultats proviennent exclusivement d'entrées structurées. Aucune instruction improvisée n'est générée.
Sources (2)
- Ray Mears und Gordon Hillman, Hodder & Stoughton (2007): Wild Food · Young lime leaves as a mild wild salad green; lime flowers for tea
- Bundesrepublik Deutschland (gesetze-im-internet.de) (2009): Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege (Bundesnaturschutzgesetz – BNatSchG), insbesondere § 39 und § 30 · Not damaging wild plants without good reason; personal-use handful rule