[4] Some botanists treat them as distinct species, with good reason, as the two taxa have differing chromosome numbers so are unable to produce fertile hybrid offspring.

Davidia involucrata is best known for its inflorescence that features two large, white bracts, the lower almost twice the size of the upper,[5] surrounding a purplish-red flower head.

On a breezy day, the bracts flutter in the wind like white doves or pinched handkerchiefs; hence the English names for this tree.

[8][9] British plant hunter Augustine Henry again found a single tree, this time in the Yangtse Ichang gorges and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens.

[10] Returning to Britain, Wilson’s boat was wrecked, but he managed to save his Davidia specimens,[11] one of which survives today in the Arnold Arboretum.

[12] The oldest probable fossils of Davidia are permineralized fruits from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Dinosaur Provincial Park near Drumheller, Alberta, Canada.