240 STYRACACEAE 



There are some 75 species in this family, representing 7 

 genera, which are mostly tropical and most abundant in South 

 America. In the northeastern United States, and in Illinois, 

 the 2 following genera occur. 



Key to the Shrubby Genera 



Leaf margins finely serrate; fruit oblong and with 2 or 4 



lengthwise wings ■ .Halesia, p. 240 



Leaf margins entire or very coarsely toothed ; fruit globose or 



oblong and without wings Styrax, p. 242 



HALESIA Ellis 

 The Silverbells 



The silverbells are small, more or less pubescent trees or 

 shrubs, which bear thin, deciduous, finely dentate leaves and 

 large, white, drooping, bell-shaped flowers in lateral clusters 

 or in short racemes. The flowers appear before or with the 

 leaves. The calyx is 4- to 5-ribbed, adnate to the ovary, and 

 4-toothed, and the bell-shaped corolla consists of 4 or 5 nearly 

 separate petals. There are 8 to 16 stamens, and the 2- to 4-celled 

 ovary develops into a dry, oblong, 2- to 4-winged, 1- to 4-celled 

 fruit. 



There are three species of silverbells, all of them native 

 in southeastern North America. Only the following occurs in 

 Illinois. 



HALESIA CAROLINA Linnaeus 

 Silverbell Snowdrop Tree 



The Silverbell, fig. 63, is a tall shrub, 20 to 30 feet high, 

 or a small tree, reaching a maximum height in the south of 

 about 45 feet and a trunk diameter of 12 to 18 inches. It 

 bears oval to oblong, thin leaves, which are denticulate on the 

 margin, acuminate at the tip, and narrowed at the base. The 

 leaf surface is dark green and glabrous above at maturity but 

 pale green and covered with stellate pubescence beneath. The 

 leaves are 2 to 6 inches long by 1 to 3 inches wide and stand 

 on short petioles. 



The flowers are borne, up to 5 together, in clusters which 

 appear at about the same time as the leaves. Each flower is 

 borne on a slender pedicel I to U/i inches long and consists 



