Virginia Tech Dendrology

dove tree Nyssaceae Davidia involucrata Baill. symbol: --
Leaf: Alternate, simple, deciduous, broadly ovate to heart-shaped, 2 to 6 inches long, serrated margin, bright green above, paler with white fuzz on the undersides, petioles tend to be pink or red.
Flower: Very conspicuous, two large white bracts fold around and enclose the small flower that occur in dense round heads. White bracts appear as a folded handkerchief around flower heads, appear in early spring.
Fruit: Round, 1 to 2 inch drupe, sometimes ridged like a small pumpkin, hanging from a 1 inch red stem, initially green, becoming speckled with brown and eventually turning reddish brown when ripe in late fall; each fruit contains a single hard "nut" that contains numerous indehiscent seeds.
Twig: Moderately stout, gray-brown, numerous spur shoots; buds are ovoid and pointed, reddish brown, 1/4 inch long with numerous scales.
Bark: Light gray-brown and smooth with a gray-purple inner bark, later becoming darker, scaly and orangish brown.
Form: Upright medium sized tree reaching to 40 feet tall with a broad conical crown, rounding with age.
Looks like: Pacific dogwood - flowering dogwood - littleleaf linden - Japanese raisintree

Additional Range Information: Davidia involucrata is planted in the USDA hardiness zones shown above and is not known to widely escape cultivaton. Download the full-size PDF map.
More Information: Fall Color

All material © 2021 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information