The Silver Lime of Eewal

Silver limes flower in July, when most other nectar in a Dutch city is finished, and it is common to find dead and dying bumblebees on the ground beneath one. For a century the tree's nectar was blamed for poisoning them. The explanation now generally preferred is simpler and sadder: this is the last thing in flower, worn-out bees come to it late, and by then there is not enough in it to save them. This is one of two silver limes the local IVN nature volunteers put on their monumental-trees walk through Leeuwarden. It stands on the Eewal, opposite Restaurant Spinoza at number 50, in the old centre. The other is a few hundred metres south on the Druifstreek. Both are Tilia tomentosa rather than the common lime of most Dutch streets, and the way to tell is to turn a leaf over: white felt underneath, dark green above. Nobody has dated this one either. It appears in no national register and no source gives a planting year. If you know when it went in, tell us. Two independent geocodes for this address agree within about fifteen metres, so the pin will put you on the right frontage rather than at the exact trunk.