Louisiana Plant ID | Styrax grandifolia (bigleaf snowbell)

FAMILY: STYRACACEAE

ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:

LEAVES: alternate, simple, deciduous; oval to obovate; 3-6” long; margin entire or occasional tooth; underside densely hairy, stellate; whitish

FLOWER: white, bell-shaped, 3/4”; axillary racemes with 5 to 20 flowers; racemes 5-6”; March to April

FRUIT: dry drupe, 1/3” long

TWIGS: slender, densely stellate pubescent, white axillary bud (snowman); continuous pith

BARK: dark brown, streaked; thin; smooth

FORM: shrub or small tree to 20 ft

HABITAT: moist sites near streams in pineywoods

WETLAND DESIGNATION: Facultative Upland (FACU): Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but may occur in wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region

RANGE: southeast US coastal plain

USES: ornamental

Best Recognition Features:

white hairy lower leaf surface
leaf margin with distinct teeth
petioles 1/5 to 1/4 inch long
mature leaves upper surface glabrous, with impressed veins
snowman buds

NOTES: Stryax americana - American snowbell: very similar to bigleaf snowbell, but leaves are smaller 1.5-3 inches and essentially glabrous at time of flowering; pubescence is not stellate; flowers in clusters of 2-4; common in “big” river drainages

School of Renewable Natural Reources	Louisiana Plant Identification and Interactive Virtual Tours Dr. Chris S. Reid, Project Director \| creid4@lsu.edu LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, LA © 2003-2020 website problems or broken links: mbowen@agcenter.lsu.edu page revised: 15-Jan-2020 4:11 PM msb	LSU AgCenter
Provide Website Feedback \| Accessibility Statement