First recorded in Tibet in 1869 by a French missionary botanist Father Armand David after whom it got its scientific name. The species name involucrata translates to “surrounded by bracts” and describes the conspicuous bracts of the handkerchief tree. The species came to Britain in 1901.
It’s name ‘dove tree’ comes from Chinese mythology. During the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), the princess Zhaojun Wang was married to the king of a tribe a thousand miles from her home. Missing her family, Zhaojun sent letters home attached to doves which landed to rest in a particular tree outside her family’s home. When in flower the tree looked like it was full of the white doves she had sent hence the name.
Each ‘flower’ is in fact a single ‘perfect’ (bisexual) flower, surrounded by many purple male anthers. The bracts start out green to maximise photosynthesis, before turning white to attract pollinators. The white bracts are believed to attract bees and also protect the flower from rain. Once pollinated, this flower becomes a fruit in the autumn.
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