hankerchief tree Davidia involucrata

I'm starting this new thing on my blog, where once a week, I write about a particular animal or plant. This week, I'd like to talk about the hankerchief tree, also known as ghost tree and dove tree. It was discovered in 1869, by the French botanist/missionary Pere David. It is the only member of the genus Davidia. It is native to China, and possibly other nearby countries, and is naturally found in temperate forest. It is counted on the Red List of 1997, as rare. Apparrently, they can be killed by honey fungus. It is a prehistoric plant, dating from the Tertiary period. There are two varieties, Davidia involucrata var. involucrata and Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana. They can be identified by differrences in the leaves. They can grow from seed, cuttings or long shoots that have been detached from the parent plant.