476 DAVIDIA 



as wide, heart-shaped at the base, the apex drawn out into a long fine 

 point ; margins set with coarse triangular teeth ; upper surface furnished 

 with silky hairs, the lower one felted with a thick grey down; stalks 

 slender, li to 3 ins. long. About eight pairs of nearly parallel veins 

 proceed from the midrib at an angle of 45. Flowers produced in May 

 with the strongly scented young leaves from the buds of the previous year's 

 shoots; they are crowded in a rounded head about f in. diameter, 

 borne at the end of a drooping stalk about 3 ins. long; their only 

 conspicuous features are the long red or white stamens forming a brush- 

 like mass, and an egg-shaped ovary, with a short six-rayed style and 

 a ring of abortive stamens at the top. It is not, however, in the flowers 

 themselves where the remarkable beauty of the Davidia lies, but in two 

 (rarely three) enormous bracts by which each flower-head is subtended. 

 These bracts are white or creamy white, hooded, oblong, long-pointed, and 

 of unequal size, the lower one being the larger, and sometimes nearly 



DAVIDIA INVOLUCRATA. 



6 ins. long and half as wide ; the upper bract is about half the size, and 

 stands above the flower-head like a canopy. Fruit solitary, pear-shaped, 

 about i J ins. long and i in. wide, green with a purplish bloom, containing 

 one hard, ridged nut. 



Native of Central and W. China ; first discovered near Moupine in 

 1869, by the Abbe David, after whom the genus is named, but not 

 introduced to Europe until 1897, when a parcel of thirty-seven seeds was 

 sent to Mr Maurice de Vilmorin by Pere Farges. Of this sending only 

 one seed germinated, and that not until June 1899. The plant grew and 

 flourished, flowering for the first time at Les Barres in May 1906. This 

 plant and a few cuttings from it were the only representatives of Davidia 

 in Europe until Wilson's first journey in China for Messrs Veitch, 1899- 

 1902, during which several thousands of seeds were sent home. These 

 germinated well, and the abundant representation of Davidia in European 

 gardens became assured. So far as can at present be judged, the Davidia 

 is absolutely hardy. It starts into growth late, and ripens its shoots in 

 autumn up to the tip two valuable attributes in regard to hardiness 



