Dove tree
Encyclopedia
The Dove Tree is a medium-sized deciduous
tree
, usually placed in the tupelo
family
(Nyssaceae
), but is sometimes included (with the tupelos) in the dogwood
family (Cornaceae
), and by yet others given family status of its own, as Davidiaceae. It is also known as the Handkerchief tree or Pocket-handkerchief tree. The tree is native to Central
and Southwest China
from Hubei
to southern Gansu
, south to Guizhou
, Sichuan
and Yunnan
.
The Dove Tree is the only member of its genus
, but there are two varieties differing slightly in their leaves
, Davidia involucrata var. involucrata, which has the leaves thinly pubescent (short-haired) on the underside, and Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana, with glabrous (hairless) leaves. Some botanists treat them as distinct species, with good reason as the two taxa have differing chromosome
numbers so are unable to produce fertile hybrid offspring.
It is a moderately fast-growing tree, growing to about 20–25 m in height, with alternate cordate leaves resembling those of a linden
in appearance, except that they are symmetrical, and lacking the lop-sided base typical of linden leaves; the leaves are mostly 10–20 cm long and 7–15 cm wide and are ovate to heart-shaped.
The Dove Tree is best known for its flower
s. These form a tight cluster about 1–2 cm across, reddish in colour, each flower head with a pair of large (12–25 cm), pure white bract
s at the base performing the function of petals. These hang in long rows beneath the level branches. The flowers are at their best in late May. On a breezy day, the bracts flutter in the wind like white dove
s or pinched handkerchiefs, hence the English
names for this tree.
The fruit
is a very hard nut
about 3 cm long surrounded by a green husk about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide, pendulous on a 10 cm stalk. The nut contains 3-6 seeds.
The species was introduced from China to Europe
and North America
in 1904, and is a popular ornamental
tree in larger gardens. Most trees in cultivation are var. vilmoriniana, which has proved much better able to adapt to the climatic conditions in Europe
and North America
.
The genus Davidia is named after Father Armand David
(1826–1900), ("Père David"), a French Vincentian
missionary and keen naturalist who lived in China, and who is also commemorated in the Chinese White Pine
Pinus armandii and Père David's Deer
. He was also the first westerner to describe another rare Chinese endemic, the Giant panda
(Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Although it was David who first described the tree in 1905, a single tree found at over 2,000 metres altitude, his specimens were lost in a boat wreck on the Han River rapids. Scottish plant hunter Augustine Henry
again found a single tree, this time in the Yangtse Ichang gorges and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens. Plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson
was employed by Sir Harry Veitch
to find Henry's tree but arrived to find that it had been felled for building purposes; however he later found a grove of the trees overhanging a sheer drop. Wilson too had his boat wrecked but managed to save his Davidia specimens.
in Lancashire, the Marks Hall Estate in Essex, Wayford Woods on the Somerset/Dorset border, Queenswood in Herefordshire, and The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Notable specimens of the dove tree can also be seen in the Priory Park, Great Malvern, at Rowallane Gardens in County Down, Northern Ireland and Keele University, Staffordshire.
fossils in Primorsky Krai
and assigned them to a new species in the genus Davidia.
Deciduous
Deciduous means "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off", and is typically used in reference to trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally, and to the shedding of other plant structures such as petals after flowering or fruit when ripe...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
, usually placed in the tupelo
Tupelo
The tupelo , black gum, or pepperidge tree, genus Nyssa , is a small genus of about 9 to 11 species of trees with alternate, simple leaves...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
(Nyssaceae
Nyssaceae
Nyssaceae is a small family of flowering trees closely related to and often included within the dogwood family . Nyssaceae commonly includes the following genera:...
), but is sometimes included (with the tupelos) in the dogwood
Dogwood
The genus Cornus is a group of about 30-60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods. Most dogwoods are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and a few of the woody species are evergreen...
family (Cornaceae
Cornaceae
Cornaceae is a cosmopolitan family of flowering plants in the order Cornales. It contains approximately 110 species, mostly trees and shrubs, which may be deciduous or evergreen. Members of this family usually have opposite or alternate simple leaves, four- or five-parted flowers clustered in...
), and by yet others given family status of its own, as Davidiaceae. It is also known as the Handkerchief tree or Pocket-handkerchief tree. The tree is native to Central
South Central China
South Central China is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by governmental bureaus that includes the provinces of Guangdong, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, and Hunan, and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, however excluding the 2 special administrative regions : Hong Kong and...
and Southwest China
Southwest China
Southwest China is a region of the People's Republic of China defined by governmental bureaus that includes the municipality of Chongqing, the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, and the Tibet Autonomous Region.-Provinces:-Municipalities:...
from Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
to southern Gansu
Gansu
' is a province located in the northwest of the People's Republic of China.It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east...
, south to Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
, Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
and Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
.
The Dove Tree is the only member of its genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
, but there are two varieties differing slightly in their leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
, Davidia involucrata var. involucrata, which has the leaves thinly pubescent (short-haired) on the underside, and Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana, with glabrous (hairless) leaves. Some botanists treat them as distinct species, with good reason as the two taxa have differing chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
numbers so are unable to produce fertile hybrid offspring.
It is a moderately fast-growing tree, growing to about 20–25 m in height, with alternate cordate leaves resembling those of a linden
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
in appearance, except that they are symmetrical, and lacking the lop-sided base typical of linden leaves; the leaves are mostly 10–20 cm long and 7–15 cm wide and are ovate to heart-shaped.
The Dove Tree is best known for its flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s. These form a tight cluster about 1–2 cm across, reddish in colour, each flower head with a pair of large (12–25 cm), pure white bract
Bract
In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis, or cone scale. Bracts are often different from foliage leaves. They may be smaller, larger, or of a different color, shape, or texture...
s at the base performing the function of petals. These hang in long rows beneath the level branches. The flowers are at their best in late May. On a breezy day, the bracts flutter in the wind like white dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
s or pinched handkerchiefs, hence the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
names for this tree.
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a very hard nut
Nut (fruit)
A nut is a hard-shelled fruit of some plants having an indehiscent seed. While a wide variety of dried seeds and fruits are called nuts in English, only a certain number of them are considered by biologists to be true nuts...
about 3 cm long surrounded by a green husk about 4 cm long by 3 cm wide, pendulous on a 10 cm stalk. The nut contains 3-6 seeds.
The species was introduced from China to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 1904, and is a popular ornamental
Ornamental plant
Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...
tree in larger gardens. Most trees in cultivation are var. vilmoriniana, which has proved much better able to adapt to the climatic conditions in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The genus Davidia is named after Father Armand David
Armand David
Father Armand David was a Lazarist missionary Catholic priest as well as a zoologist and a botanist.-General Biography:...
(1826–1900), ("Père David"), a French Vincentian
Vincentian
Vincentian can refer to:*A citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*A person from Saint Vincent , the largest island in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines*A member of one of the Roman Catholic orders or societies in the Vincentian Family, including...
missionary and keen naturalist who lived in China, and who is also commemorated in the Chinese White Pine
Chinese White Pine
The Chinese White Pine is a species of pine native to China, occurring from southern Shanxi west to southern Gansu and south to Yunnan, with outlying populations in Anhui and Taiwan; it also extends a short distance into northern Myanmar. It grows at 1,000-3,300 m altitude, with the lower...
Pinus armandii and Père David's Deer
Père David's Deer
Père David's Deer, Elaphurus davidianus, also known as the Milu , is a species of deer known only in captivity. It prefers marshland, and is believed to be native to the subtropics of China. It grazes on a mixture of grass and water plants. It is the only extant member of the genus Elaphurus...
. He was also the first westerner to describe another rare Chinese endemic, the Giant panda
Giant Panda
The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...
(Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Although it was David who first described the tree in 1905, a single tree found at over 2,000 metres altitude, his specimens were lost in a boat wreck on the Han River rapids. Scottish plant hunter Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry
Augustine Henry was an Irish plantsman and sinologist. He is best known for sending over 15,000 dry specimens and seeds and 500 plant samples to Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom. By 1930, he was a recognised authority and was honoured with society membership in Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland,...
again found a single tree, this time in the Yangtse Ichang gorges and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens. Plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson
Ernest Henry Wilson
Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson , better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable English plant collector who introduced a large range of about 2000 of Asian plant species to the West; some sixty bear his name.-Career:...
was employed by Sir Harry Veitch
Harry Veitch
Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...
to find Henry's tree but arrived to find that it had been felled for building purposes; however he later found a grove of the trees overhanging a sheer drop. Wilson too had his boat wrecked but managed to save his Davidia specimens.
In Gardens
In the UK, dove trees can be seen in many gardens and estates including the Parkland Estate of Rufford New HallRufford New Hall
Rufford New Hall is a former country house which belonged to the Heskeths who were lords of the manor and replaced Rufford Old Hall as their residence in Rufford, Lancashire, England. It has been designated a Grade II Listed building since 1986.-History:...
in Lancashire, the Marks Hall Estate in Essex, Wayford Woods on the Somerset/Dorset border, Queenswood in Herefordshire, and The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall. Notable specimens of the dove tree can also be seen in the Priory Park, Great Malvern, at Rowallane Gardens in County Down, Northern Ireland and Keele University, Staffordshire.
Fossils
In 2009, B. I. Pavlyutkin described MioceneMiocene
The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...
fossils in Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai
Primorsky Krai , informally known as Primorye , is a federal subject of Russia . Primorsky means "maritime" in Russian, hence the region is sometimes referred to as Maritime Province or Maritime Territory. Its administrative center is in the city of Vladivostok...
and assigned them to a new species in the genus Davidia.