''Halesia tetraptera'', commonly known as the common silverbellKY State Nature Preserves Commission
''Halesia tetraptera''
or mountain silverbell (or Carolina silverbell; syn. ''Halesia carolina'' auct. non L.), is a species in the family

Styracaceae The Styracaceae are a small family of flowering plants in the order Ericales, containing 12 genera and about 160 species of trees and shrubs. The family occurs in warm temperate and subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The family is c ...

, native to the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is cultivated as an

ornamental tree Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that i ...

Description

It is a small

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

growing to 10 m tall. The

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

are ovate to lanceolate, 5–16 cm long and 4–7 cm broad. The

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s are 1–2.5 cm long, with a four-lobed white corolla. The

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

is a dry

drupe In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or '' pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

4 cm long, with four wings running along its length.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary of Gardening''. Macmillan .Bioimages
''Halesia tetraptera''

Range

The species is found in scattered populations over much of the eastern United States, as far north as

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, south to northern

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and west to

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. But it is thinly distributed over much of its native range, and is becoming rare in many areas.Geographic Distribution
''Halesia tetraptera (Carolina Silverbell)''
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Varieties

There are two

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of ''H. tetraptera'': * ''Halesia tetraptera'' var. ''tetraptera'' – Common silverbell * ''Halesia tetraptera'' var. ''monticola'' (Rehder) Reveal & Seldin – Mountain silverbell The last taxon is much larger, up to 20–39 m tall, with larger leaves up to 20 cm long and flowers up to 3 cm long.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain and Europe''. Collins . Image:Halesia tetraptera3.jpg, Image:HalesiaTetraptera.jpg, Image:Halesia_tetraptera.jpg, ''H. tetraptera'' var. ''monticola''

Ecology

''H. tetraptera var. tetraptera'' has been marked as a pollinator plant, supporting and attracting butterflies and bees.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5641512 tetraptera Trees of the Northeastern United States Trees of the North-Central United States Trees of the Southern United States Trees of the Southeastern United States Trees of the Great Lakes region (North America) Flora of the Appalachian Mountains Natural history of the Great Smoky Mountains Flora without expected TNC conservation status