Pistacia chinensis 'Keith Davey' This selected form of Chinese Pistache is noted for its Fall color. The other worthy attribute is that this tree does not produce berries. Introduced into the San Joaquin Valley by Mr. Don Kleim of Henderson Experimental Gardens in 1986. This tree is not readily available in the nursery trade still. There are a few but not many Central Valley sources for these grafted trees. These photos were taken at noon today November 8, 2004 with no sunlight due to an inversion layer of high fog with a series of clouds above the fog. The crude photos were taken with a 2.1 megapixel Digital Camera. The coloring is starting to come around even before we have had any real frosts so far. The North side of the trees are a light scarlet red with more pronounced coloring on the South of the tree which gets more sunlight. These trees will turn more crimson in color as soon as we get some light frosts. A quick note as I have another post in the works. Ron, you are correct about the name spelled Keith Davey. I should have double checked Don's '86-'87 Plant Specialist as he called it. Thank you for the pointing out my oversight. Jim
It's spelled 'Keith Davey', after the founder of Davey Tree Surgery Company. Selected by Saratoga Horticultural Foundation in 1957, introduced the following year. Plant Patent 2277 (1963) if anyone wants to try searching the USPTO web site to see if there is still an account there. Love the color, thanks for sharing. Wish the tree was easier to propagate, more readily obtained.
I am a firm believer in comparing one plant to another to see the differences from plant to plant. These photos were taken November 9, around noon but in a different city than the first group of images were taken yesterday. Fall color at this stage is typical of how a standard Chinese Pistache can and does look in comparison to the above images of the misses Keith Davey's trees. The second tree, the one on the right, has good color and sets right behind or due North of the tree shown on the left photo in a street landscape setting.
Mr. Shep, I'd love to speak with you about the origon of this tree and your knowledge of Henderson's Experimental Gardens. I'm very interested and involved in propagating and growing the Pistacia and also am very interested in the nursery. You seem to be a wealth of knowledge on the subject. Lankyrighty
I too would like to find a nursery source for the Keith Davey tree. Any information would be appreciated. Best wishes to my fellow tree enthusiasts. Regards Roy Stark Newton County, Texas
We are a bare root tree nursery in Oregon. We are looking at the possibliity of growing Pistacia Keith Davies comercially. Does anyone know of a source of scion wood, and also a source of seedling understock? Thanks, Dave
Note, again, that it is 'Keith Davey'. Not common due to need to be grafted. Understock you might be able to produce yourself by growing them from seeds, if you don't find a source for liners.
Obviously finding a nursery that ships the "Keith Davey" Chinese Pistache is like winning a lottery. I can't find a single nursery that would ship to Texas. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks! Roy Stark texxsonn@sbcglobal.net
