The "pigeon tree" from China has amazed all of Europe

In the spring of 1869, a French missionary named Jean Pierre Armand David saw a large tree full of white flowers in the mountains of Muping (now Baoxing County, Sichuan Province), and was very amazed. He collected specimens of this plant and shipped them back to his country. Eventually, this plant was named Davidia involucrata, which is what we call Davidia involucrata today.

Gorgeous Pigeon Tree

Davidia involucrata is a tall deciduous tree of the genus Davidia in the family of Apocynaceae, which is only found in parts of southern my country. Davidia involucrata is about 20 meters tall. The leaves are alternate, broadly ovate or nearly round. There are three types of flowers: female flowers, male flowers, and bisexual flowers. They are often composed of a majority of male flowers and one female or bisexual flower to form a nearly spherical head inflorescence, which grows at the top of young branches, with the bisexual flowers located at the top of the inflorescence.

Davidia involucrata flower head | James Petts / Wikimedia Commons

There are 2-3 huge oval papery bracts at the base of the inflorescence, which are shaped like petals. The most eye-catching part of Davidia involucrata is these two large bracts. When it first blooms, the bracts are duck egg blue, and the stamens are reddish brown; as the two bracts continue to grow, their color changes to snow blue, then to milky white, and finally to brownish yellow and falls off.

The two large white bracts of Davidia involucrata are very cute. From a distance they look like white doves, and they dance gracefully in the wind. It is so beautiful that Davidia involucrata has earned the beautiful name of "dove tree". Foreigners simply call it "dove tree".

Beautiful bracts | James Petts / Wikimedia Commons

Davidia involucrata is an ancient relict plant. Many of its relatives have disappeared in the history of the earth. Only a few areas in my country have preserved its life. Davidia involucrata is listed as a national first-class protected plant. Its distribution is relatively narrow, and it is distributed in a belt from Changyang County, Hubei to Gongshan County, Yunnan.

The fact that Davidia involucrata has become an endangered plant is related to some of its own characteristics and environment. Davidia involucrata has a small amount of fruit, low reproductive capacity, and an alternate bearing phenomenon, usually producing small fruits once every three years and large fruits once every seven years. Davidia involucrata seeds have a long dormancy period and a low germination rate due to their own physiological structure and plant distribution characteristics. The long dormancy period is mainly due to the poor air and water permeability of the seed exocarp. After Davidia involucrata seeds germinate into seedlings, they are prone to diseases and pests, especially when there is insufficient light and the air humidity suddenly increases, the seedlings are susceptible to damping-off disease. The radicles of each embryo of Davidia involucrata seeds are often tied together, often infecting each other, and the mortality rate is high. After so many setbacks, only a few Davidia involucratas can successfully survive.

Beautiful Davidia involucrata | James Petts / Wikimedia Commons

Davidia involucrata is a sun-loving tree, but its ability to compete for sunlight is weak. It grows slowly and is easily robbed of resources by fast-growing tree species. It is a self-pollinating plant, and there is only one species in the entire genus, so it is difficult to hybridize naturally, and its competitiveness is decreasing. These are the reasons why Davidia involucrata is endangered.

The story of Davidia involucrata going abroad

The specific epithet involucrata of Davidia involucrata means "with involucral bracts", specifically referring to the two large bracts. Its genus name Davidia is named after its discoverer Tan Weidao. Speaking of this, we have to mention the shock it caused in the West back then.

David Tan, the discoverer of Davidia involucrata, is a very famous person. He explored the Chinese mainland three times and collected a large number of animal and plant specimens and living organisms. He is the discoverer of many new species. David Tan loves nature very much and has accumulated a lot of natural knowledge since he was a child. On July 5, 1862, David Tan entered China for the first time and preached in Beijing. During this period, he also transported elk to Europe, allowing the world to know this new species.

Tan Weidao | Wikimedia Commons

After 1868, Tan Weidao went south to do biological research. After many twists and turns, he arrived in Baoxing, Sichuan on February 28, 1869. Here, he discovered giant pandas, golden monkeys, and giant salamanders through hunters. He also saw the Davidia involucrata in full bloom on the mountain. He was shocked and unforgettable. In November 1869, Tan Weidao was preparing to return to Beijing. When passing through Yantai, he heard that many missionaries in Tianjin had been killed. In addition, he needed to recover, so he slipped back to France.

Scientific illustration of Davidia involucrata | Wikimedia Commons

Later, Adrien Franchet, a botanist at the Paris Museum of Natural History, sorted out Tan Weidao's plant specimens. In 1884, the Paris Masson Publishing House published the research results in a book Plantae Davidianae. The book only had two color pages with cardboard illustrations, which showed the representative plant Davidia involucrata that Tan Weidao brought back to Europe. Since then, the beautiful Davidia involucrata has caused a sensation in Europe, and everyone is eager to see its beauty. In 1897, another French missionary collected Davidia involucrata seeds in western Sichuan and sent them to a French nursery company for breeding. In the end, only one seed germinated and grew into a seedling, and finally some seedlings were obtained by cuttings.

Davidia involucrata | Manfred Brückels / Wikimedia Commons

Of course, these were not enough, and some gardening merchants also wanted to develop Davidia involucrata into a horticultural plant. So in 1899, Ernest Wilson of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, was commissioned by the British Vegetarian Flower and Tree Company to go to my country again to collect seeds of Davidia involucrata and other rare plants. It was not until 1902 that he returned with a full load.

Since then, Davidia involucrata has become a very popular garden plant in Western countries and has been planted in many places. In contrast, almost no one in China at that time paid attention to Davidia involucrata. Even now, Davidia involucrata is rarely used in Chinese gardens, while foreign greening trees such as sycamore are everywhere in the streets and alleys. I hope that in the future, Davidia involucrata will be seen blooming in streets and parks, so that more people can appreciate the beauty of the dove tree.