The Weeping Silver Lime of Scheteldoekshaven

In a strong wind this tree changes colour. The underside of a silver lime's leaf is covered in fine white felt, which is what tomentosa means, so one gust turns a green crown pale grey and the next turns it back. This one is the weeping form, Tilia tomentosa 'Pendula', and both the national register and the city's own 2017 list of monumental trees name the cultivar outright. The branches hang rather than reach, so the colour change runs from the top of the crown all the way down, like a curtain being shaken out. It stands on the Bolwerk, the belt of old earthworks Alkmaar stopped defending and started walking on. The two sources agree on the decade as well as the species: it went into the ground somewhere between 1930 and 1940, which makes it a young tree with an unusual shape at the point the occupation arrived, and it has held the same spot on the rampart ever since. Beyond that, nothing. The register's history field for this lime reads onbekend, unknown. Nobody has written down who planted it or why a weeping silver lime was the choice for this corner of the park. If you know, tell us and it goes on the page.