Chèvreloup is home to one of the finest collections of lime trees in France (Tilia genus).
National collection
Designated “collection nationale”, the lime tree collection numbers nearly one hundred, representing twenty-seven wild varieties and species and eighteen horticultural varieties.
They are mainly found in two places: in a systematic collection, just north of the Bois de l'Ancienne Pépinière (Old Nursery Wood) and in the horticultural area in the centre of the Arboretum.
There are three species of common lime trees in Europe that are often planted in our parks and along our streets, but there are in fact forty or so wild species and varieties of lime trees, spread across Asia, Europe and North America, with a few even in the subtropical regions of Mexico’s mountains.
You will enjoy their often very fragrant blossom, appearing from June until July in certain exotic species, and you will discover the little-known diversity of their leaves, which can range from 6 to 20 cm in length, and are sometimes lobed, or even divided in some horticultural varieties.
