Son of the Tree

"Joe Smith is roaming the galaxy in search of the man who has stolen his love's heart. During his travels he becomes involved with a power struggle taking part between two worlds -one religious, the other cultural- over possession of a developing, but potentially lucrative, third [world]." - publisher

Originally published in Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1951.
When printed as part of an Ace Double it had approximately the same length, about 32,000 words, as the magazine version.
The Vance Integral Edition site lists the date of this work as 1950.