Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Ericales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/7/08):
Halesia tetraptera var. tetraptera
FAMILY
Styracaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Read more about Silverbell at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Recent drafts of Weakley's Flora don't recognize the two varieties but do discuss them: "monticola," a large tree, restricted to the Southern Appalachians (and especially the Great Smoky Mountains), the corolla (18-) 20-30mm long, the style included, the anthers well inside the mouth of the corolla tube, and "tetraptera," a smaller tree more widely distributed, the corolla (12-) 15-20mm long, the style slightly exserted, the anthers just within the mouth of the corolla tube. Read more by downloading Weakley's Flora (2022).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Halesia tetraptera var. tetraptera
FAMILY
Styracaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 152-01-001:
Halesia carolina
FAMILY
Styracaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Halesia carolina
COMMON NAME:
Common Silverbell
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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JK Marlow jkm0402b_17
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Bark dark bluish-gray, smooth & orange-striped on young stems, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge.
)
JK Marlow jkm0402b_19
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Older bark blue-gray to brown, with scaly plates, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide.
)
JK Marlow jkm0404y_33
April Rutherford County NC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm120424_524
April Pickens County SC
Jocassee Gorges
Leaves oblong, ovate to elliptic or oblong-ovate; finely serrate, per Trees of the Southeastern United States.
COMPARE
leaves of Silverbell, Spicebush and Storax
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JK Marlow jkm160423_449
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_h_tetraptera_0754
April Newberry County SC
Lynch's Woods Park
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4211_319
April Spartanburg County SC
Calyx 3-6mm long, the teeth or lobes minute, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4211_352
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4211_354
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4910_228
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4910_230
April Spartanburg County SC
Leaves widely elliptic to obovate, acuminate, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4910_242
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_halesia_tetraptera
April
Petals united for most of their length, the tube longer than the lobes, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_halesia_tetraptera_3
April
)
Ron Lance rwl1932_a
April
Anthers just within the mouth of corolla tube, style slightly exserted, per Weakley's Flora (2008).
)
JK Marlow jkm090510_048
May Greenville County SC
Palmetto Trail: Poinsett Passage
)
JK Marlow jkm200531_5504
May Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm140625_332
June Greenville County SC
Cleveland Park
Fruit ellipsoid to slightly obovate in outline, broadly 4-winged, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm140625_339
June Greenville County SC
Cleveland Park
)
JK Marlow jkm210903_3247
September Greenville County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_h_tetraptera_tetrap_1
December Floyd County GA
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/7/08):
Halesia tetraptera var. tetraptera
FAMILY
Styracaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Halesia tetraptera var. tetraptera
FAMILY
Styracaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 152-01-001:
Halesia carolina
FAMILY
Styracaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Halesia carolina
1932
Tree
Perennial
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Look for it on moist slopes, in coves, creekbanks, bottomlands, per Weakley's Flora
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Simple
Alternate
Margins serrate
FLOWER:
Spring
White or shaded with pink
4-merous
Synsepalous calyx, lobes minute
4-lobed campanulate corolla
8-16 stamens
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Fruits broadly 4-winged
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South p067
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee p292
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers P020?
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p186?
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America p358
- Landscaping with Native Trees p122
- Southern Appalachian Wildflowers p069?
- Trees of the Southeastern United States p311
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p193?
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge p35
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont p239?
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide p158