Description
Davidia – Dove Tree – Ghost Tree – Handerchief Tree –
There is a single species of a rounded crown, deciduous tree, in this genus. It occurs in woodland in Southwestern China. It bears small ellipsoid flower heads surrounded by showy white bracts, which give rise to the common names. Its bark is smooth, and mid gray, and the leaves are large, soft, tooted, deeply creased by veins, held alternate, and are broadly ovate. Grow as a specimen tree. It may not flower for the first 10 years.
Grow in deep fertile, moist but well drained soil in sun or partial shade, with shelter from strong winds.
D. involucrata var. vilmoriniana – This low branching, broadly conical tree from grows 50-60′ feet tall and half as wide. It produces broadly ovate, pointed, sharply toothed, red stalked leaves, to 6″ long, with heart shaped bases, mid green above and glaucous or smooth yellow-green beneath and almost hairless, which are aromatic when young. In late spring, it bears dense, pendent, ellipsoid heads, to 3/4″ across, of small male flowers, each with red-purple anthers and a single, ovoid green ovary. Each flower is surrounded by a pair of leafy white bracts of unequal size, the larger being about 8″ long. The pendent fruit are ridged and greenish brown, to 2″ across.
Zones 6-8
