ghost tree

plural ghost trees

1. The dove tree, Davidia involucrata, which has large white bracts resembling white sheets like those used to represent ghosts.

   Synonyms: dove tree, handkerchief tree

2. pluralusuallyA dead or dying tree in a relatively intact state in a ghost forest.

   […] including ghost trees. These dead, leafless trees were the victims of saltwater intrusion as brackish water moved in from the bay.

   2022, Erin Gifford, Hiking Coastal Trails of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, page 128

   1 more example

   Saltwater intrusion threatens to ruin farmland and has already turned once-vibrant forests into collections of "ghost trees." Up and down the coast, dense thickets of invasive phragmites have displaced native species.

   2025, McKay Jenkins, Joy Shindler Rafey, The Maryland Master Naturalist's Handbook, page 93