There are some fabulous trees along the Glen, as recorded by Ed Dolphin of the Arboretum:
There is a Handkerchief Tree, Davidia involucrata, in the Glen; the story of its Veitch link is on the Kew website. Davidia involucrata Baill. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science
Trees in Glen Goyle – Friends of Glen Goyle
As he says, several of these were introduced to Britain [and the Sid Valley] by the famous Veitch nursery in Exeter and Kew:
Veitch plants in Glen Goyle – Friends of Glen Goyle
Back in June 2021, the FOGG project was just being set up:
Things are growing well in Glen Goyle, including the nettles and brambles! Some are too close to the path and will need to be moved or removed but we mustn’t forget their importance for wildlife.
2021, early June – Friends of Glen Goyle
And amongst the nettles and brambles, some of the arboreal gems could be seen – including the glorious Handkerchief Tree, or Davidia involucrata
Photography by Ed Dolphin: June 2021
And this week, in June 2024, the tree has been in glorious flower.
This is also an interesting tree:
A medium-sized deciduous tree with bright green, broadly ovate leaves to 15cm in length. Flowers very small, in rounded heads 2cm in width, held within a pair of creamy-white, ovate bracts to 20cm in length
Davidia involucrata|handkerchief tree/RHS Gardening
It is native to South Central and Southeast China. It grows in montane mixed forests.[6 ]
British plant hunter Augustine Henry again found a single tree, this time in the Yangtse Ichang gorges and sent the first specimen to Kew Gardens. Plant collector Ernest Henry Wilson was employed by Sir Harry Veitch to find Henry’s tree but arrived to find that it had been felled for building purposes; however, he later found a grove of the trees overhanging a sheer drop.[9] Returning to Britain, Wilson’s boat was wrecked, but he managed to save his Davidia specimens,[10] one of which survives today in the Arnold Arboretum.[11]
Davidia involucrata – Wikipedia
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