Deciduous trees. Leaves alternate, simple, mostly broadly ovate, cordate-based and serrate, petiolate, with stipules falling early. Inflorescence a cyme, with 2–25 fragrant flowers whose peduncle is fused to a persistent papery bract which is dispersed with the fruits; flowers actinomorphic, bisexual, hypogynous. Sepals 5, free. Petals 5, free, usually creamish-yellow. Stamens numerous, more or less coherent in 5 bundles. Style 1; stigma capitate, more or less lobed. Ovary 5-celled; each cell with 2 ovules. Fruit a nut, with 1–3 seeds.

Contains about 35 genera and about 300 species, widely distributed from temperate to tropical regions.

Tilia

Deciduous trees with a strong tendency to sprout from the base. Leaves alternate, often ovate-cordate and asymmetrical, with a slender petiole; stipules present, falling shortly after the leaves expand. Inflorescence with peduncle fused to the upper surface of an elliptical or oblanceolate bract; flowers in a dichasial cyme, strongly scented, entomophilous. Sepals 5, boat-shaped, with hair-covered nectaries on their upper surfaces. Petals 5, strap-shaped, cream to bright yellow. Stamens numerous, in 5 bundles; petal-like staminodes may be present. Ovary spherical, with 5 cells, each containing 2 ovules. Style 1, slender; stigma small, 5-lobed. Fruit a nut, usually indehiscent and containing 1–3 seeds. The fruits are shed with the bract attached and acting as a wing.

Contains about 30 species in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. When taxa come together in cultivation they tend to hybridise.