Flowering trees

[David Humphries]

One of my favourite trees & currently in its prime

 

Davidia involucrata - handkerchief tree

 

The bracts are pretty darn striking, imo

 

"A native of China, the handkerchief tree was once considered to be the Holy Grail of exotic flora. After an adventure worthy of Indiana Jones, legendary botanist Ernest Wilson eventually found this spectacular tree and managed to send back seeds to England. Specimens of Davidia involucrata had been sent to Kew, and nurseryman Henry Veitch expressed an interest in obtaining some seeds from which to grow the tree. In 1899, he commissioned a young botanist called Ernest Wilson to go to China to find the handkerchief tree. Having never been abroad and not speaking a word of Chinese, this presented quite a challenge for the 22-year-old Wilson.

 

With only a hand-drawn map and a few written instructions to guide him, Wilson set off into the remote Yunnan region of China in search of the single specimen known to exist. On his way, he escaped local bandits, survived a potentially deadly illness and nearly drowned when his boat overturned in a rocky river. When he did finally find the location of the tree, Wilson was mortified to discover that it had been cut down and used to build a house. Fortunately he did find other specimens and sent the seeds back to England in 1901 before going on to spend many years in China, finding hundreds of other plants and fame in the process". (RBG Kew)

 

 

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[arbwork]

some from the garden the other day, Lilac ( pungent in the fresh morning air) white Thorn (with territorial Robin!), Bramley and Rowan

[arbwork]

I knew I'd got 1 it was just where, found it!

Edited May 30, 2013 by arbwork

[Matthew Arnold]

Got some nice shots of some spindle flowers. Dainty little things that my camera doesn't normally pick up.

[David Humphries]

Judas tree at Ickworth today

 

 

 

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[nepia]

20' from my back door

[Matthew Arnold]

20' from my back door

 

Nice sized Cornus alba

[nepia]

Thanks. I used to clip the nuts off it to try to stop it impinging on the luvverly laurel/privet hedge and then I saw the error of my ways.

The bees love it; every time one lands on a flower there's a small shower of flower fragments.

[nepia]

Me again. This thread must be for minority interest then.

 

Today in a garden in Coulsdon... Koelreuteria paniculata, the Golden Rain Tree.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Me again. This thread must be for minority interest then.

 

Today in a garden in Coulsdon... Koelreuteria paniculata, the Golden Rain Tree.

 

 

not at all, was just thinking thats a fine pride of india:thumbup1:

 

question is whos ging to point out the tree thats not really flowers, and instead is bracts!

 

MR HUMPHRIES!

 

You know I loves a good wind up.