Styrax americanus Lam.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Styracaceae

• Scientific Name

  Styrax americanus Lam.

• Description

  Species Description - Branched shrub to 4 m; lvs narrowly elliptic, 3–10 cm, acuminate, usually serrulate distally, paler beneath but glabrous or nearly so; fls on short, lateral, leafy branches, a few solitary or paired in the axils and 2–4 in short, terminal, semi-drooping racemes; cal 3–4 mm; cor-lobes 10–12 mm, longer than the tube; fr subglobose or obovoid, 6–8 mm thick; 2n=16. Swamps and wet woods, chiefly on the coastal plain; se. Va. to Fla. and La., n. in the Miss. valley to s. Ind., and at scattered stations in s. Pa., Ky., s. O., and n. Ind. May, June. Our plants are var. americanus. A more hairy var. (pulverulentus) occurs southward.

• Common Names

  American snowbell