Dove trees are blooming here in the Willamette Valley on this fine late April day (we’re having a heat wave, so they’re a little early), and they’re making a spectacular show. The dove tree, a.k.a. handkerchief tree, ghost tree, laundry tree, or Davidia involucrata, is a rare and exquisite tree with a great story to boot.

Once classified in the black gum family (Nyssaceae), Davidia—along with black gum (Nyssa sylvatica)—has been moved to the dogwood family (Cornaceae). Like many dogwoods, the small, fuzzy true flowers that do the business of reproduction are surrounded by large, flashy bracts, or modified leaves, which in the case of Davidia involucrata look like dove wings or handkerchiefs. On dove trees there are two bracts of different sizes surrounding each flower. The bigger bract can be 8 inches long.