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.
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Getting there
Eewal, opposite Restaurant Spinoza
You can recognise it by the leaf: white felt underneath, dark green on top, where the city's common limes are green on both sides. It stands on the Eewal, opposite Restaurant Spinoza at number 50.
Free. Stands on Eewal, a public city-centre street opposite Restaurant Spinoza (Eewal 50).
About 800 m south of Leeuwarden station, on foot.
In bloom
July, when the late-flowering silver lime fills the street with honey scent
The line is our estimate of how much there is to see, not a measurement. Typical for this species where this tree stands; exact weeks shift with the year.
Sources
Where the facts on this page come from. The story was written with AI from these sources, and readers who know the tree correct it.