50 genera and 400 species; widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, with relatively few species in temperate regions. Especially abundant in Southeast Asia and Brazil. Lindens are called Lime trees in Great Britain and The Commonwealth.

The Leaves of all the Tilias are heart-shaped and most are asymmetrical, and the tiny fruit, looking like peas, always hang attached to a ribbon-like, greenish yellow bract, whose use seems to be to launch the ripened seed-clusters just a little beyond the parent tree. The flowers of the European and American Tilias are similar, except that the American bears a petal-like scale among its stamens and the European varieties are devoid of these appendages. All of the Tilias may be propagated by grafting as well as by seed.

Lindens are some of the most popular shade and street trees in North America. Their often pyramidal form is eminently suitable for specimen plantings. However, this genus is increasingly under attack by Japanese beetles in the American Midwest.