These young trees with very beautiful leaves are a private planting in front of a condominium building. Some appear a bit younger or at least smaller than the others, with leaves about 12 cm long; the taller ones have leaves around 20cm long. They had very few fruits - only one tree had more than two fruits that I could find. They'd seem to be great trees to plant if they weren't so attractive to gall mites. I'd like to know what they are.
Davidia involucrata. Common name Dove tree. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=da...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1271&bih=533 It has flowered already. Seed pods just starting to develop. I believe this may be Davidia involucrata var vilmoriniana.
Thanks, Silver Surfer. I see two or three Davidia fairly often in Stanley Park, but I never noticed the leaves looking like this. They're old trees, though, and the leaves are not down at my level. The fruits I can see in photos do look like this, but I'd thought the leaves here were so distinctive the way they overlapped at the base, and I only found that on one internet photo. So much for what I think are distinguishing characteristics. I think it would have to be Davidia involucrata var. involucrata, as the leaf undersides seem to be thinly pubescent. I wonder if it might have to be the cultvar 'Sonoma', which can flower in two years. The POTD photo of 'Sonoma' doesn't seem so pubescent, though, and this flickr photo seems shinier and less crinkled.Or maybe it's some new cultivar, with the overlapping basal lobes (is that the right description?). I don't see anything listed, though.
Something like 98% of the davidias in cultivation are Davidia involucrata var. vilmoriniana; the type is very rare outside of China, and rarely succeeds well (it might do better in warmer areas like the southeast US). As an aside, the two have different chromosome numbers so can't hybridise; they should really be treated as separate species, though no-one does so.
