It is also known as Water Pear and Pigeon Tree, and belongs to the Nyssaceae Family, with the Latin name of Davidia involucrata.      

The deciduous arbor can grow up to 15 to 20 meters high. The dark grey bark often scales off in flakes. The papery leaves intergrow, without stipules, and often close together on top of the cladium, in appearance of wide ovoid or a circle. It bears sub-globose capitula composed of polygamous flowers, containing the combination of male flowers plus 1 female flower or male flowers plus 1 hermaphrodite flower. The capitulum has a diameter of about 2 centimeters, and is borne on the top of cladiums. The female flower or hermaphrodite flower is borne on the top of the capitulum with male flowers encircling around. There are 2 to 3 membranous ovoid petaloid bracts borne on the base of the capitulum. The bract almost has the same size as the leaf, but it is a little narrower. Originally it's light green, then turns milky, and in the end straw yellow. Then it falls off. Since it looks like a white pigeon from afar, it's also known as Chinese Pigeon Tree. Its stone fruit is long ovoid or obovarate, and purple green with yellow spots.

Chinese Dove Tree is native to the broad-leaved evergreen forests or the mingled forests of evergreen and deciduous trees 1,250 to 2,200 meters above sea level. Sometimes it's found in small blocks of pure forests. It's distributed in areas where it is cool in summer and cold in winter and it's also foggy and rainy there. The pH value of the mountain yellow earth or yellow brown earth there is 4.5 to 6.0. It grows better in places where there're loose soil layer, good crumb structure and thick leaf litter. It fructifies in October.

Distributed all over Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Shaanxi provinces, Chinese Dive Tree is a relic species of paleotropical region in tertiary period, and also a sort of ornamental plant famous all over the world. Since the shape of its flower stands apart from other genera of the same family, some scholars advocate creating a new family named family Chinese Dive Tree. At Present, it has only a small quantity and the range of distribution is being reduced. It's necessary to adopt additional protective measures for it.