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Davidia involucrata
Davidia involucrata (Nyssaceae), known as the dove or pocket-handkerchief tree, is one of the most distinctive plants in the Botanical Garden.
In May, mature trees produce large (to 30cm) white involucral bracts, which hang on either side of grape-sized inflorescences. Beetles, bees and flies are attracted by the unusual scent and showy involucres (an involucre is a group of bracts enveloping a condensed inflorescence). Davidia is monotypic (the only species in its genus) and related to Nyssa (tupelo) and Cornus (dogwood). Endemic to the mountains of southwest China, the genus is named for the French missionary Père Armand David (1826-1900), who is better known as the first westerner to describe another rare Chinese endemic, the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).