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PHILYRA…(Filyra)
according to Greek mythology, Philyra was an Okeanid-nymph of Mount Pelion in Thessalia. Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, she was a Goddess of Healing, Beauty, Perfume and Writing. Loved by the Titan Cronus, when his wife Rhea came upon their rendeavouz, he quickly transformed himself into a horse to escape detection. As a result, Philyra birthed a half-horse, half-man hybrid, the kentauros Chiron. She was so disgusted by how her son looked that she abandoned him at birth and implored the gods to transform her into anything other than anthropomorphic as she could not bear the shame of having such a monstrous child and the gods changed her into a linden tree (philyra in Greek).
Yet in some versions Philyra and Chariclo, the wife of Chiron, nursed the young Achilles. Chiron’s dwelling on Pelion where his disciples were reared, was known as “Philyra’s cave”.
Two other sons of Cronus and Philyra may have been Dolops and Aphrus, the ancestor and eponym of the Aphroi, i.e. the native Africans.
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 Philyra = Linden tree
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Commonly called lime trees in the British Isles, they are not closely related to the lime fruit. Other names include linden, and basswood for the North American species. The genus occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but the greatest species diversity is found in Asia.
Tilia species are mostly large, deciduous trees, reaching typically 20 to 40 metres tall, with oblique-cordate leaves 6 to 20 centimetres across. As with elms, the exact number of species is uncertain, as many if not most of the species will hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation. Limes are hermaphroditic, having perfect flowers with both male and female parts, pollinated by insects.
Name
The genus is generally called lime or linden in Britain and linden, lime, or basswood in North America.
Latin tilia is cognate to Greek πτελέᾱ, ptelea, "elm tree", τιλίαι, tiliai,
Description:
The leaves of all the Tilia species are heart-shaped and most are asymmetrical, and the tiny fruit, looking like peas.
All of the Tilia species may be propagated by cuttings and grafting, as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in rich soil, but are subject to the attack of many insects. Tilia is notoriously difficult to propagate from seed unless collected fresh in the fall. If allowed to dry, the seeds will go into a deep dormancy and take 18 months to germinate.
In particular, aphids are attracted by the rich supply of sap, and are in turn often "farmed" by ants for the production of the sap which the ants collect for their own use, and the result can often be a dripping of excess sap onto the lower branches and leaves, and anything else below. Cars left under the trees can quickly become coated with a film of the syrup ("honeydew") thus dropped from higher up. The ant/aphid "farming" process does not appear to cause any serious damage to the trees.
Herbalism
The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Limeflower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. The flowers, leaves, wood, and charcoal (obtained from the wood) are used for medicinal purposes. Active ingredients in the Tilia flowers include flavonoids (which act as antioxidants) and volatile oils. The plant also contains tannins that can act as an astringent.
Linden flowers are used in herbalism for colds, cough, fever, infections, inflammation, high blood pressure, headache (particularly migraine), and as a diuretic (increases urine production), antispasmodic (reduces smooth muscle spasm along the digestive tract), and sedative. In the traditional Austrian medicine Tilia sp. flowers have been used internally as tea for treatment of disorders of the respiratory tract, fever and flu. New evidence shows that the flowers may be hepatoprotective. The wood is used for liver and gallbladder disorders and cellulitis (inflammation of the skin and surrounding soft tissue). That wood burned to charcoal is ingested to treat intestinal disorders and used topically to treat edema or infection such as cellulitis or ulcers of the lower leg.
Usually, the double-flowered species are used to make perfumes. The leaf buds and young leaves are also edible raw
SOURCE: https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Linden_tree&item_type=topic
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