I watched an Open University programme on the television this week that took my fancy. It was all about the Pocket Handkerchief Tree. I was inspired to include this tribute to this tree on my site.

Description

This description comes from the Botany Site.

This very attractive, deciduous tree is a native of China. This tree grows from 20 to 40 feet high with its branches spreading a distance to match. It is fairly hardy, living in areas where the temperature doesn't fall below 10? F. It produces 3 to 6 inch, heart shaped, long stalked leaves that are covered with white fuzz on their undersides.

This tree is commonly known as Dove Tree and other common names include Ghost Tree and Pocket Handkerchief Tree. In the spring, 1 inch, ball shaped, clusters of flowers are produced. These are surrounded by a pair of large, white, petal like bracts of unequal proportions. The large one is about 7 inches long and half as wide and the other is about 3 or 4 inches long and about 2 inches wide. These bracts tremble in the slightest breeze making it look like a tree full of doves. These pretty flowers last about 2 weeks and are succeeded by inedible, pear shaped fruits about 11/2 inches long. These Trees don't usually begin to bloom until they are about 10 years old and even then some trees don't bloom every year.

This tree can be found all over the UK now: this picture comes from Malvern and their tree is behind the Winter Gardens in Priory Park. "This is one of the few in a public park in Britain. It's flowers look just like pocket hankies, but they're a bit smelly."

(Source of photo: http://www.wiseworld.demon.co.uk/malvernArea/malv.html)

Close up Views of the Tree

(Source of Photo: Sidney Sussex College Cambridge)

(Source of Photo: http://www.gigaflop.demon.co.uk/qx3/garden.htm)

How Did the Tree Get to the UK?

French Priest Jean Pierre Armand David was stationed at the Lazarist missionary in Bejing and he was given the freedom to conduct scientific expeditions in remote areas of China. Father David sent botanical specimens to Paris that aroused considerable interest in collectors, particularly the plant named for him, Davidia involucrate, which he discovered in 1869.

In fact, the French discovery remained a secret from the British who sent their own expeditions to China to find the source of the tree. The British nurseryman, James Veitch, began to send collectors to China in the late 1800s, most successfully Ernest Wilson. Wilson was the first to collect live material of Davidia for Britain!

Endangered Trees: the top 10 from the BBC

Click over to the BBC's web site to see a list of 10 must see endangered trees … the Pocket Handkerchief Tree is number three on the list.

1 Cedrus libani var. libani The famed cedar of Lebanon.
A symbol of strength since Old Testament times and a feature of the Lebanese national flag, it is now heavily threatened in its native country.
2 Chamaecyperis lawsoniana Lawson cypress, Port Orford cedar.
Felling for timber and attacks from a fungal pathogen have devastated wild stands in its native California and Oregon. A parent of the notorious leylandii hybrid, of suburban hedge notoriety.
3 Davidia involucrata Dove tree, ghost tree, pocket handkerchief tree.
A Davidia in full flower in May will stop you in your tracks. Large white bracts, which hang beside the small clusters of flowers, give the plant its common names.
4 Dracaena draco Dragon's blood tree.
Endemic to the Canary Islands and fabled for its red resin, which is used for staining violins, embalming the dead and in medicine. Cultivated in gardens, but only a few hundred trees remain in the wild.
5 Magnolia cylindrica.
Restricted to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and threatened by forest clearance and collection of the buds for medicinal use.
6 Magnolia sinensis.
Known only in Tianquan, Lushan and Wenchuan counties in Sichuan, where it suffers from habitat loss and damage from bark stripping for medicinal extracts.
7 Magnolia wilsonii.
Scattered populations exist within the range of western Sichuan, northern Yunnan and western Guizhou are disappearing as montane forest is cleared.
8 Malus hupehensis.
Medium sized crab apple prized for its spring blossom and small yellow ornamental fruit. Only around 50 individuals remain in the forests between Taipei and Ilan counties in Taiwan.
9 Picea breweriana Brewer spruce.
Restricted to the glacial moraines in the Siskiyou Mountains of South west Oregon and North west California, where it's too rare to be exploited for its wood.
10 Picea omorika Serbian spruce.
Fewer than 1,000 trees remain in the wild, in the Pancic Narodni Nature Reserve in the Tara Mountains. Valued as an ornamental species because it thrives on any soil.

A fascinating looking tree that I've yet to see in the flesh! UPDATE However, Andrew Hooper sent me a packet of davidia seeds just the other day and I am researching how best to plant them! Brilliant, Andrew!

© Duncan Williamson
17 February 2002 and 22 May 2003