The Plane of Valkenberg's Edge

This plane's bark comes away in patches the size of a hand, which is not disease. London planes shed their bark in irregular plates because the trunk cannot expand fast enough to keep an unbroken skin, and the patchwork of grey, green and cream underneath is the tree's normal, healthy state. It stands on the western rim of Valkenberg, at the corner where the park gives way to the Willemstraat and the John F. Kennedylaan, which is why it registers to a slightly different address than the trees deeper in the park despite being part of the same grounds. The register bands its planting to the 1880s, and London planes of that age are common street and park trees across the Netherlands precisely because they tolerate compacted soil and traffic pollution better than almost anything else that gets this large. That toughness, not rarity, is the reason to notice it: a tree planted for a hard job that has quietly outlived every reason it was chosen for. Free, public park, open daily.