''Styrax platanifolius'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Styracaceae known by the common name sycamoreleaf snowbell. It is native to northeastern Mexico in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

''Styrax platanifolius''.
Flora of North America. and the US state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, especially on the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...

.''Styrax platanifolius''.
The Nature Conservancy.

Description

This is a shrub which can grow to 6 meters. The leaves are variable in shape, generally oval with smooth, toothed, or lobed edges, and measuring 4.5 to 12 centimeters in length. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...

is a solitary flower or cluster of up to 7. The bell-shaped white flower is 1 or 2 centimeters long. The fruit is a hairy, spherical capsule about a centimeter long.

Taxonomy

There are five subspecies of this plant. Some were formerly considered species, but

genetic analysis Genetic analysis is the overall process of studying and researching in fields of science that involve genetics and molecular biology. There are a number of applications that are developed from this research, and these are also considered parts of ...

suggests they are more closely related and should be treated as subtaxa of one species.USFWS
''Styrax platanifolius'' ssp. ''texana'' Five-year Review.
September 2008. The subspecies are mostly characterized on the basis of the amount and arrangement of hairs on the leaves and other parts.

Subspecies

*''S. p.'' ssp. ''mollis'' - known from the Sierra Madre Oriental in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas in Mexico. *''S. p.'' ssp. ''platanifolius'' - once the most widespread subspecies and now quite rare. *''S. p.'' ssp. ''stellatus'' (hairy sycamoreleaf snowbell) - formerly ''S. stellatus'', a rare subspecies found along the southern edge of the Edwards Plateau *''S. p.'' ssp. ''texanus'' (Texas snowbell) - formerly ''S. texana'' or ''S. texanus'', rare and federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.''Styrax platanifolius'' ssp. ''texanus''.
Texas Parks & Wildlife.''Styrax texanus''.
Center for Plant Conservation. There are about 22 populations remaining in the state of Texas. *''S. p.'' ssp. ''youngiae'' (Young's snowbell) - formerly ''S. youngiae'', occurs in Coahuila and possibly in the

Davis Mountains The Davis Mountains, originally known as Limpia Mountains, are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. The fort was named for then United States Secretary of War and later Confederate President J ...

of Texas. File:Styrax platanifolius ssp stellatus.jpg, Leaves of ssp. ''stellatus'' have white stellate hairs

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7629799 platanifolius Flora of Coahuila Flora of Nuevo León Flora of Tamaulipas Flora of Texas Flora of Mexico