Davidia involucrata tree dove-tree , handkerchief , handkerchief tree handkerchief , or ghost tree , is a middle deciduous tree in the Nyssaceae family. It was previously included with tupelos in the dogwood family, Cornaceae. It originates from South Central and Southwest China from Hubei to southern Gansu, south to Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan, but is widely cultivated elsewhere.
Video Davidia involucrata
Taxonomy
Davidia involucrata is the only member of its genus, but there are two slightly different varieties in its leaves, D. involucrata var. involucrata , which has a short pubary leaf (short-haired) at the bottom, and D. involucrata var. vilmoriniana , with bald leaves (no hair). Some botanists treat them as distinct species, for good reason, because the two taxa have different chromosome numbers that can not produce fertile hybrid offspring. Maps Davidia involucrata
Description
It is a tree that grows fast enough, growing up to 20-25 m (66-82 ft) in height, with alternate luminous leaves that resemble lindens in appearance, except that they are symmetrical, and have no distinctive lop-sided foundation. linden leaf; the leaves have a length of 10-20 cm and width of 7-15 cm and oval to form the heart.
Davidia involucrata is famous for its interest. Latin epithet specific involucrata means "with a ring of bracts that surrounds some flowers". It forms a tight cluster about 1-2 cm across, reddish-colored, each flower head with a large pair (12-25 cm), pure white bracts on base performing petal functions. It hangs in a long line below the level branch. Their best flowers at the end of May. On a windy day, the feathers fluttered like a white dove or a clipped handkerchief, then the English names for this tree.
The fruit is a very hard nut about 3 cm long surrounded by a green skin about 4 cm long with a width of 3 cm, depending on the stem 10 cm. The nuts contain 3-6 seeds.
History
The genus Davidia is named for Father Armand David (1826-1900; "PÃÆ'¨re David"), a French Vincentian missionary and a keen naturalist living in China. David first described the tree in 1869 as a single tree found at an altitude of more than 2,000 m (6,562 ft), and sent a dry specimen to Paris; in 1871, Henri Baillon described it as a genus and a new species.
Scottish hunt hunter Augustine Henry again found a tree, this time in Yangtse Ichang canyon and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens. Ernest plant collector Henry Wilson was hired by Sir Harry Veitch to find the Henry tree but arrived to discover that the tree had been felled for development purposes; However, he later found a group of trees that dangle a thin drop. Back in England, Wilson had his ship destroyed, but managed to rescue his specimen Davidia .
Fossil record
The oldest possible fossil of Davidia is the mineralized fruit of the Horseshoe Canyon Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Formation of the Dinosaur Provincial Park near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The fruits are smaller than D. involucrata and have fewer loci, but other morphologies are similar to the genus.
In 2009, B. I. Pavlyutkin described the Miocene fossils in Primorsky Krai and assigned them to new species within the genus Davidia .
In the garden
This species was introduced from China to Europe and North America in 1904, and is a popular ornamental tree in larger parks and gardens. Most of the trees in cultivation are var. vilmoriniana , which has proved much more adaptable to climatic conditions in the west.
This tree and the cultivated varieties D. involucrata var. vilmoriniana has been awarded the Royal Horticultural Society of Garden Merit Award.
References
External links
- Media associated with Davidia involucrata on Wikimedia Commons
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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