Botanical Family · Malvales

Tiliaceae

Lime tree/Jute family

31 speciesOrder Malvales8+ well-known plants

The linden or jute family (now largely merged into Malvaceae). Includes jute (Corchorus) — one of the most important natural fibres — and the lime/linden trees (Tilia) with fragrant flowers. Mostly trees and herbs with stellate (star-shaped) hairs and fibrous bark.

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Representative specimen · Tiliaceae

Key pattern

Alternate leaves often felted with star-shaped (stellate) hairs, over a fibrous, stringy inner bark; regular five-petalled flowers carry numerous stamens and ripen into a capsule — the same fibre-rich bark structure that yields jute.

The family's tough phloem fibres are, commercially, the world's second most-used natural fibre after cotton, harvested at scale from Corchorus (jute).

Identify the species

Which Tiliaceae species is this?

Answer what you can see and narrow it down to a single Tiliaceae species.

Click a node to trace its path · pinch or scroll to zoom · drag to pan

HabitWhat is the plant's growth habit?

Herb

Herb/shrub

Shrub

Shrub/tree

Tree

Leaf TextureWhat does the leaf surface feel/look like?

Hairy

Rough/sandpapery

Smooth

Fruit MarkAnything distinctive about the fruit?

Long slender capsule

Round dry capsule

Leaf TextureWhat does the leaf surface feel/look like?

Hairy

Rough/sandpapery

Smooth

Woolly

Leaf TextureWhat does the leaf surface feel/look like?

Rough/sandpapery

Smooth

Leaf TextureWhat does the leaf surface feel/look like?

Rough/sandpapery

Smooth

Woolly

How to recognise the Tiliaceae family

01
Star-shaped (stellate) hairs on surfaces
02
Fibrous bast in stems used as fibre
03
5-petalled regular flowers, numerous stamens

Family identification method

To check whether a plant belongs to Tiliaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.

Learn the full family-identification method